“Yes; entirely. They are all in Nick’s Cavern, where there is enough feed for man and beast kept all the time to last for months. It is shut in every way now.” “Good! Then they can’t get out?” “No, but you can’t get in.” “We’ll see! They went in, and so will I.” “But they’ll get to the top of the cliff over us, and make it too hot for us here.” “Will they? Then we’ll make it too hot for them there. If they can shoot at us, we can return the fire. If I see a gun flash, lead will go very near where I see that flash.” “If you hurt any of them, they’ll murder the prisoners.” “How are we to know they have not done that already? I tell you what it is, Steve--I’ve done fooling! I have not come this far to go back with my hands down, leaving them here to crow. They’ve got to be wiped out.” “It will be a hard job!” “Then I’m just in for it. Here comes Captain Meinhold. What shall I tell him?” “That you’ve holed your game, but diggin’ for it in a rock will be hard work.” “Well--why don’t we go on?” asked the captain, who had not been able to hold the wild pace that Buffalo Bill had kept for a few miles back. “Rocks caved in our way, and the enemy caved in behind them,” said Buffalo Bill. “Can you see them?” “No, but I hear them,” said Buffalo Bill, as a bullet flattened against a rock within a foot of his head. “If you’ll get under cover, we’ll talk with Steve here and see what we can do.” “I don’t like this,” said the captain, as they fell back a little to where some rocks and trees sheltered them partially. From away up in the cliff, out of sight of them, a fusillade was now opened which made it necessary for all hands to take cover. Two wounded men, a scout and a soldier, proclaimed this necessity. “Is there no way of getting in and making a charge?” asked the captain. “Hand to hand, saber and revolver, I’ll risk meeting them three to one!” “Just about the odds, I reckon, captain, but the getting in is the question. There is a passage in and out, besides the one they’ve filled up, where a man can creep, but not where horses can go. But only Bill Harkness and two more know anything about it. It was always kept from the rest for fear of treachery at a time like this,” said Hathaway. “It can and must be found,” said Buffalo Bill. “I’m going to look for it.” The brave scout handed his Remington to Steve. “Take care of it,” said he. “If I don’t get in there, I shan’t need it any more. If I do--I’ll make music with it when they’re on the run among the hills.” Buffalo Bill started out, determined to climb the cliff. But the instant he was seen near the face of the rock bullets rained at him. That Providence which seems ever to shelter and protect the bravest when cowards fall must have shielded his breast, for he was evidently a target for at least twenty marksmen. Coolly he dropped back. “Climbing just now in the face of a leaden hailstorm isn’t in my line. But I’ve got the dot on one fellow. I’ll take the rifle again, Steve.”