Certainly the red paddlers propelled their little bark with great rapidity, and within an hour, on doubling a little promontory, they came in sight of Captain Meinhold’s boat, apparently about three miles ahead. But here a new difficulty occurred, for the men in the forward boat, having discovered the pursuing canoe, believed themselves to be chased with hostile intent, and they quickened their speed to escape. They could not distinguish white men from red at that distance. They could only see that there were four people in the craft behind them, and as it was impossible for them to conjecture the true state of things, it was most natural to suppose that those four men were foes. The outbreak of which they had witnessed the beginning, and from which they had fled, had ended, they did not doubt, in the arrest of Buffalo Bill and Congo and the sending of the canoe after themselves. So they fled, and as they put all their strength to their oars, the chase was a long one. “It’s just as I expected,” said a man named Hutton, who was not by any means a courageous fellow, and had been one of the foremost in counseling Captain Meinhold to leave. “That obstinate fellow Cody has brought ruin upon us all. Here we are now with four or five Indians after us, and probably more behind, and nothing but a pistol or two to defend ourselves with. In a little while they will be within rifle shot, and then they will begin to fire upon us.” So they made for the shore with a view of scattering and hiding in the wood until night. But they were a long way from the land, having kept far out for safety. In spite of the most exhausting labor at the oars, the Indians gained on them. The canoe, increasing its speed and taking a diagonal course, was soon within bullet range. While, however, the wearied fugitives were expecting a shot and were watching for the leveling of the guns, so that they might throw themselves down in the bottom of the boat, they saw a more welcome sight. Two hats were waved in the air, and, as the Indians did not wear hats, the conclusion was inevitable that they were followed by friends instead of foes. A closer inspection, which but for their alarm they might sooner have made, justified this hope, and they turned joyfully to meet their pursuers. The tidings which Buffalo Bill brought were most astonishing and gratifying to Captain Meinhold, who complimented the scout highly on his success, and took shame to himself for having deserted him, even for the sake of the women. But the border king was not disposed to blame any one, and, so far from reproaching the captain, he awarded him a large share of credit for the happy result. “If you had said no when we talked of going back with Hare,” he said, “his fate would have been sealed. The rest of the men would have sided with you, and I should have been obliged to submit.”