By this time the general was receiving the report of Captain Meinhold, who had not only done the country the great service of breaking up a most dangerous band of desperadoes, but had managed so well the care of his command, aided by Buffalo Bill, that he had brought it back efficient in men and horses and ready for immediate service. But the gallant soldiers were not needed again for immediate active service, although the captain himself was wanted at once for special duty with a surveying party on the Great Lakes. Mr. Doyle gave up all idea of going across the plains and the mountains of the far West to California. The perils to which his daughters had been subjected and the great anxiety he had suffered on their account had thoroughly cured him of his desire to do that. On the second day after the return to the fort Mainwaring sought out the old gentleman, told him that he had won the love of his daughter May, and asked his consent to their marriage. “If the dear child loves you she must do as she likes,” Mr. Doyle replied. “I would not stand in the way of her happiness. But it seems rather hard that I have got to lose her again after just getting her back.” “You need not lose her, sir,” replied Mainwaring. “Neither May nor I would wish that. You have decided not to go on to California, have you not?” “Yes. I have quite made up my mind on that matter. I have been very fortunate in getting my dear girls back, and I won’t tempt Providence a second time. I will expose them to no more dangers.” “Then why not come to Texas with me, sir? It is a glorious country, especially the section where my ranch is located. You could buy a ranch near by my place, and see May as often as you wished. We could all be happy together.” The old gentleman caught eagerly at this idea, and it was carried out without delay. Mr. Doyle, with his great wealth, bought a handsome estate, and at his death, several years later, it passed by his will to the eldest son of his daughter, Mrs. Mainwaring. Jack Mainwaring himself handsomely rewarded the scouts and troopers for the work they had done in rescuing him and the girl who became his wife. As Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill could not, of course, be offered money for such work, he sent them each one of the finest Remington rifles he could buy, as a keepsake. His old adversary, Simon Ketchum, did not return to Danger Divide, and was not heard of in that part of the boundless West for several years. Then his fate was discovered by Buffalo Bill, who rode into a little frontier settlement in Utah and saw a man swinging to the limb of a tree, surrounded by a party of vigilantes, who had just hanged him for horse stealing and murder. The dead man was Simon Ketchum, who had met with his deserts at last. CHAPTER XXX. BUFFALO BILL IN A WRECK.