CHAPTER XLIX. CONCLUSION.

The wondering Indians allowed the White Antelope and Long Hair to pass. Inside the teepee an old woman kept watch and guard. A figure lay upon a heap of furs. It moved as the scout entered, raised on its elbow, and a weak voice exclaimed:

“By the nine gods of war! Thanks be it’s you, Cody! I thought you’d never come, though this dear girl here swore you would, as you had promised her.”

To see one whom we believe dead--aye, have seen lying stark on the field of battle and believe to have been buried there--rise up suddenly and confront us is indeed a shock. Buffalo Bill fell back a step, exclaiming:

“Dick Danforth!”

“’Tis I, old faithful! Thanks to this girl--who is the whitest Injun God ever made--I am alive, the sole survivor of my unfortunate party.”

“Dick, I saw you lying on the field of battle,” declared the scout, taking his hand. “How came you here?”

“She brought me back to life. She found there was life in me. I had got a terrible crack on the head. She and the old woman brought me here, and I have been hidden in this teepee ever since. I’m a whole lot better now, Cody. I believe I could ride a horse.”

“And the White Antelope has cared for you?” cried the scout.

“She has, indeed.” Then the young man whispered: “Isn’t she beautiful? And how glad I am, old man, that you stayed my hand that day when I would have murdered her!”

“Ho, ho!” muttered the scout. “Sets the wind in that quarter? I must tell you two young people something before more mischief be done.”

He seized the girl’s hand and drew her forward to the side of Danforth’s couch.

“White Antelope,” he said in English, “do you remember that I told you once I knew your mother?”

She nodded, watching him with bright eyes.

“She was a lovely woman. She was a white woman. It was true she was Oak Heart’s wife, but she had been espoused before by a good and great white man. He was killed by Oak Heart’s people, and for a time your mother was stricken by the mercy of the Great Spirit with forgetfulness.

“When she came to herself she believed that her husband and her son were dead. She became Oak Heart’s squaw. But her son was not dead. I had saved him from the Indians, and he lived to grow up----”

Danforth raised himself up with a great cry.

“You do not mean it! It is impossible!” he cried. “This girl----?”

“Is your sister. White Antelope, this young man is your elder brother--and a mighty fine fellow you’ll find him. Your mother was the finest woman I ever knew, and _your_ father, Dick--God help him!--was once the finest fellow in the world!”

The scout choked and was silent. He was thinking of that awful, convulsed face of the Mad Hunter as he fell backward from the summit of the bluff, with Texas Jack’s bullet in his brain!

“He--he is my brother?” murmured the girl, her eyes shining.

“That’s what he is,” said the scout, recovering himself and speaking heartily.

She went to Danforth and put both her hands in his. The young fellow suddenly pulled her down to him and kissed her on the lips.

“That’s the way _white_ brothers and sisters greet each other,” he said, with a weak laugh. “When can you get us away from this camp, Cody?”

That was a question easier to be asked than answered. But the excitement over the letting of Cody himself go free aided them in their attempt. The chiefs were murmuring against the decision of Oak Heart. The old man was fighting for his supremacy as head chief of the tribe. He could not even see the White Antelope, and shut her out of his lodge.

This piqued the wayward girl. She was the more ready to go with her new-found brother, as he was ill and needed her. But she only agreed to go with him to Fort Resistence and then directly return. But Dick Danforth said confidently:

“Let me once get her away from the influence of these bloody redskins, and I’ll wean her away from them. I know what will please a young girl like her. I’ll take her to San Francisco, Bill. Thanks to you, I’ve some property of my own left of my poor father’s estate. And isn’t she a beauty! Won’t she make ’em sit up and take notice at the Bay?”

Under cover of the night the scout and the Indian maid helped the wounded Danforth upon a horse, and the three wended their way from the encampment. They were not followed--or, at least, were not overtaken--until they reached Captain Keyes’ command. Then they were hurried on under an escort to Resistence. White Antelope made no objection to going, her brother was so weak and needed her so much.

Indeed, the wily young fellow remained an invalid so long that his sister became half-reconciled to civilized clothing and to white people before they took the long journey to San Francisco, where Dick went to spend the furlough allowed him by the department.

* * * * *

The scene changes once more to Fort Advance, some days after that on which Buffalo Bill, the Border King, had set out on his dangerous mission to the village of the Sioux. It is a little past sunrise, and a horseman is descried taking the trail from the cañon toward the fort. He is mounted on a great white charger that comes like the wind.

The rider looks pale and jaded, and his buckskin attire has seen hard usage. But he is recognized by the sentinel over the gate, and his cry is repeated about the fort:

“Here comes Buffalo Bill, the King of the Border!”

Waving his battered hat in response to the shout, Buffalo Bill rides straight to the open gate, enters, and dismounts before Major Baldwin’s door. An orderly seizes his bridle-rein, and the major comes forth and grasps the scout’s hand with the words:

“Thanks be to God for seeing you again alive, Cody! When Keyes told me you were safe, I felt like ordering a feast to celebrate the occasion. And they say the Sioux are ready for peace?”

“I believe they are. Oak Heart has pretty much lost his grip on the tribe, and is an outcast. But the new powers-that-be have seen the fallacy of trying issues again with us.”

“We certainly believed you dead one while, Cody.”

“And it was a close shave not to be this time, sir.”

“You have won out as usual, Bill, with flying colors.”

“Yes, Major Baldwin. I went to Oak Heart’s village with the firm determination to get Boyd Bennett if it cost me my life. That scoundrel had been a thorn in my side too long. I got him. He’s dead. He’ll do no more harm _this_ side of the Great Divide!”

“A good piece of work, Cody. And I understand that old maniac, the Mad Hunter, who attacked Keyes, is dead, too?”

“That is so. But I am sorry for _his_ end. I tell you in confidence, major, that the man was Dick Danforth’s father--though I never suspected it until I saw his face close to. The Indians were supposed to have cracked him on the head and flung him into the river years ago. The crack on the head was sure enough. But he wasn’t drowned. His end has come now, poor fellow.”

“And Dick wonderfully saved!”

“He is, indeed--and has found a sister.”

“Ah, Cody! That was a joker you kept up your sleeve a long time,” said the major.

“True. I knew the boy’s hatred for all savages. I did not know about his poor mother and this girl until I had really instilled some of the boy’s hatred into his mind myself. I feared for him to know the truth. Yet I wanted to save her from the savages. Providence performed what I could not.”

“True.... But those scalp-locks, Cody?” asked Major Baldwin, pointing to the string of ghastly trophies hanging from the scout’s belt.

“Oh, those are the roofs of the braves who tried to raise my hair. I intended to have a rope made of them to hang Boyd Bennett with, but I’ll have them made into a bridle for you, instead, major.”

“All right, scout. Thank you for the gift. And now you are free. Report to me in full when you have rested,” and with another hand-clasp the major let him go.

Many other hands were waiting to clasp that of the Border King. It was some time before he could break away and find Texas Jack in the scouts’ quarters.

But times of rest were few and far between for these hardy men of the frontier. One tribe of red men were scarcely subjugated for the time when another would rise up to kill and slay. It was not long before Buffalo Bill was performing more daring deeds to add to his fame upon the border.

THE END.

* * * * *

Say, Boys!

How’d you like to own your own bronc’? How’d you like to be an expert at lassoing and branding? How’d you like to ride the rolling prairies in search of lost stock, and perhaps have an adventure or two with certain bad men who did not like you because you were on the side of law and order? How would you like it?

Well, we all cannot go west and be cowboys, but we sure can pay 15 cents for the stories in the _Western Story Library_, and find a good, comfortable spot, and immediately imagine ourselves riding with Ted Strong and his broncho boys, sharing their adventures, their hardships and pleasures.

Ted Strong and his pals are lovable fellows--every one of them, and you will do well to make comrades of them.

Ask your dealer to show you a copy of the _Western Story Library_.

STREET & SMITH CORPORATION 79 Seventh Avenue New York City

* * * * *

WESTERN STORIES ABOUT BUFFALO BILL

Price, Fifteen Cents

Red-blooded Adventure Stories for Men

There is no more romantic character in American history than William F. Cody, or as he was internationally known, Buffalo Bill. He, with Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, Wild Bill Hickok, General Custer, and a few other adventurous spirits, laid the foundation of our great West.

There is no more brilliant page in American history than the winning of the West. Never did pioneers live more thrilling lives, so rife with adventure and brave deeds as the old scouts and plainsmen. Foremost among these stands the imposing figure of Buffalo Bill.

All of the books in this list are intensely interesting. They were written by the close friend and companion of Buffalo Bill--Colonel Prentiss Ingraham. They depict actual adventures which this pair of hard-hitting comrades experienced, while the story of these adventures is interwoven with fiction; historically the books are correct.

_ALL TITLES ALWAYS IN PRINT_

1--Buffalo Bill, the Border King By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 2--Buffalo Bill’s Raid By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 3--Buffalo Bill’s Bravery By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 4--Buffalo Bill’s Trump Card By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 5--Buffalo Bill’s Pledge By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 6--Buffalo Bill’s Vengeance By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 7--Buffalo Bill’s Iron Grip By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 8--Buffalo Bill’s Capture By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 9--Buffalo Bill’s Danger Line By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 10--Buffalo Bill’s Comrades By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 11--Buffalo Bill’s Reckoning By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 12--Buffalo Bill’s Warning By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 13--Buffalo Bill at Bay By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 14--Buffalo Bill’s Buckskin Pards By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 15--Buffalo Bill’s Brand By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 16--Buffalo Bill’s Honor By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 17--Buffalo Bill’s Phantom Hunt By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 18--Buffalo Bill’s Fight With Fire By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 19--Buffalo Bill’s Danite Trail By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 20--Buffalo Bill’s Ranch Riders By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 21--Buffalo Bill’s Death Trail By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 22--Buffalo Bill’s Trackers By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 23--Buffalo Bill’s Mid-air Flight By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 24--Buffalo Bill, Ambassador By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 25--Buffalo Bill’s Air Voyage By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 26--Buffalo Bill’s Secret Mission By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 27--Buffalo Bill’s Long Trail By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 28--Buffalo Bill Against Odds By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 29--Buffalo Bill’s Hot Chase By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 30--Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Ally By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 31--Buffalo Bill’s Treasure Trove By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 32--Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Foes By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 33--Buffalo Bill’s Crack Shot By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 34--Buffalo Bill’s Close Call By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 35--Buffalo Bill’s Double Surprise By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 36--Buffalo Bill’s Ambush By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 37--Buffalo Bill’s Outlaw Hunt By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 38--Buffalo Bill’s Border Duel By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 39--Buffalo Bill’s Bid for Fame By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 40--Buffalo Bill’s Triumph By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 41--Buffalo Bill’s Spy Trailer By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 42--Buffalo Bill’s Death Call By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 43--Buffalo Bill’s Body Guard By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 44--Buffalo Bill’s Still Hunt By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 45--Buffalo Bill and the Doomed Dozen By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 46--Buffalo Bill’s Prairie Scout By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 47--Buffalo Bill’s Traitor Guide By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 48--Buffalo Bill’s Bonanza By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 49--Buffalo Bill’s Swoop By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 50--Buffalo Bill and the Gold King By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 51--Buffalo Bill, Deadshot By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 52--Buffalo Bill’s Buckskin Bravos By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 53--Buffalo Bill’s Big Four By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 54--Buffalo Bill’s One-armed Pard By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 55--Buffalo Bill’s Race for Life By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 56--Buffalo Bill’s Return By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 57--Buffalo Bill’s Conquest By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 58--Buffalo Bill to the Rescue By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 59--Buffalo Bill’s Beautiful Foe By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 60--Buffalo Bill’s Perilous Task By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 61--Buffalo Bill’s Queer Find By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 62--Buffalo Bill’s Blind Lead By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 63--Buffalo Bill’s Resolution By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 64--Buffalo Bill, the Avenger By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 65--Buffalo Bill’s Pledged Pard By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 66--Buffalo Bill’s Weird Warning By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 67--Buffalo Bill’s Wild Ride By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 68--Buffalo Bill’s Redskin Stampede By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 69--Buffalo Bill’s Mine Mystery By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 70--Buffalo Bill’s Gold Hunt By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 71--Buffalo Bill’s Daring Dash By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 72--Buffalo Bill on Hand By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 73--Buffalo Bill’s Alliance By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 74--Buffalo Bill’s Relentless Foe By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 75--Buffalo Bill’s Midnight Ride By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 76--Buffalo Bill’s Chivalry By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 77--Buffalo Bill’s Girl Pard By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 78--Buffalo Bill’s Private War By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 79--Buffalo Bill’s Diamond Mine By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 80--Buffalo Bill’s Big Contract By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 81--Buffalo Bill’s Woman Foe By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 82--Buffalo Bill’s Ruse By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 83--Buffalo Bill’s Pursuit By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 84--Buffalo Bill’s Hidden Gold By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 85--Buffalo Bill in Mid-air By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 86--Buffalo Bill’s Queer Mission By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 87--Buffalo Bill’s Verdict By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 88--Buffalo Bill’s Ordeal By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 89--Buffalo Bill’s Camp Fires By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 90--Buffalo Bill’s Iron Nerve By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 91--Buffalo Bill’s Rival By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 92--Buffalo Bill’s Lone Hand By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 93--Buffalo Bill’s Sacrifice By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 94--Buffalo Bill’s Thunderbolt By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 95--Buffalo Bill’s Black Fortune By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 96--Buffalo Bill’s Wild Work By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 97--Buffalo Bill’s Yellow Trail By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 98--Buffalo Bill’s Treasure Train By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 99--Buffalo Bill’s Bowie Duel By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 100--Buffalo Bill’s Mystery Man By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 101--Buffalo Bill’s Bold Play By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 102--Buffalo Bill: Peacemaker By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 103--Buffalo Bill’s Big Surprise By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 104--Buffalo Bill’s Barricade By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 105--Buffalo Bill’s Test By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 106--Buffalo Bill’s Powwow By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 107--Buffalo Bill’s Stern Justice By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 108--Buffalo Bill’s Mysterious Friend By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 109--Buffalo Bill and the Boomers By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 110--Buffalo Bill’s Panther Fight By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 111--Buffalo Bill and the Overland Mail By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 112--Buffalo Bill on the Deadwood Trail By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 113--Buffalo Bill in Apache Land By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 114--Buffalo Bill’s Blindfold Duel By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 115--Buffalo Bill and the Lone Camper By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 116--Buffalo Bill’s Merry War By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 117--Buffalo Bill’s Star Play By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 118--Buffalo Bill’s War Cry By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 119--Buffalo Bill on Black Panther’s Trail By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 120--Buffalo Bill’s Slim Chance By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 121--Buffalo Bill Besieged By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 122--Buffalo Bill’s Bandit Round-up By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 123--Buffalo Bill’s Surprise Party By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 124--Buffalo Bill’s Lightning Raid By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 125--Buffalo Bill in Mexico By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 126--Buffalo Bill’s Traitor Foe By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 127--Buffalo Bill’s Tireless Chase By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 128--Buffalo Bill’s Boy Bugler By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 129--Buffalo Bill’s Sure Guess By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 130--Buffalo Bill’s Record Jump By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 131--Buffalo Bill in the Land of Dread By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 132--Buffalo Bill’s Tangled Clue By Col. Prentiss Ingraham 133--Buffalo Bill’s Wolf Skin By Col. Prentiss Ingraham

* * * * *

_Adventure Stories_ _Detective Stories_ _Western Stories_ _Love Stories_ _Sea Stories_

All classes of fiction are to be found among the Street & Smith novels. Our line contains reading matter for every one, irrespective of age or preference.

The person who has only a moderate sum to spend on reading matter will find this line a veritable gold mine.

STREET & SMITH CORPORATION, 79 Seventh Avenue, New York, N. Y.

* * * * *

Transcriber’s Notes:

Punctuation has been made consistent.

Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

The following changes were made:

p. 17: when assumed for unintelligible word (volunteer when you were)

p. 34: means assumed for unintelligible word (wonderful means of)

p. 69: wise scout assumed for unintelligible words (the wise scout had)

p. 77: to assumed for unintelligible word (blow to Oak)

p. 120: done assumed for unintelligible word (was done. It)

p. 120: officer assumed for unintelligible word (the officer descried)

p. 226: flung assumed for unintelligible word (mother flung him)

p. 228: unintelligible word(s) deleted (he feared and)

p. 292: a assumed for unintelligible word (seemed a frail)

p. 306: can assumed for unintelligible word (man can die)

p. 314: Dick assumed for unintelligible word (And Dick wonderfully)