The bodies of the slain frontiersmen were then quickly buried, and Buffalo Bill led his party at a swift pace on the trail of the Shawnees. CHAPTER XIX. EVIL HEART’S SUICIDE. Although the Indians had obtained only a short start of the border king and his men, the chase was a long and difficult one. As the scouts and their Pawnee allies followed the trail, it became more and more evident that every expedient of redskin craft had been employed to hide it. Even Buffalo Bill’s skill was often at fault, and sometimes for hours--once even for a whole day--the tracks were lost completely and only recovered after the most arduous search. “Evil Heart is one of the best chiefs on the plains, both in fighting and in running away,” said Buffalo Bill to Wild Bill, as they were riding side by side on the fifth day of the chase. “But I think we shall get him this time, after all. The trail is freshening all the time.” “Yes, that is so,” Wild Bill replied, “and, of course, you must have noticed one thing--that during the last few hours not a single effort has been made to hide it. That strikes me as being rather strange, for they have done all they could to conceal their tracks up to now.” “Yes, I have noticed that,” said Buffalo Bill, knitting his brows in some perplexity, “and it has seemed peculiar to me.” It was not long before this mystery, which so much puzzled the experienced scouts, deepened. They had not ridden more than a mile when Buffalo Bill, who was in front, pulled up his mustang, with a cry of astonishment. “Here is another trail!” he exclaimed to Nick Wharton and Wild Bill, who instantly pushed their horses up alongside of his. It was a fact. Another body of Indians, who had evidently ridden across the prairie from the left at a tangent, had met with the Shawnees. The tracks plainly showed that the new party outnumbered the first by more than four to one. The Shawnees had been held up, but there were no signs to indicate that a fight had taken place. There had been a halt and a palaver, but evidently that was all. The newcomers had not joined the Shawnees. Another trail showed that they had ridden off in a different direction, while the Shawnees had proceeded on their own course. What had happened? This was a question which all the experience and ingenuity of the scouts failed to answer. Was the second party composed of Shawnees? From the fact that no fight had taken place, there was some reason to suppose that this was the case; but, on the other hand, if they were Shawnees, why had they not joined the party under Evil Heart, the paramount chief of that tribe? The scouts examined all the tracks with the greatest care, but they could not solve the riddle. “Certainly there is more in this than meets the eye,” said the border king. “It is difficult to know what to do.” “You mean that it is hard to decide which of the two parties to follow?” asked Mainwaring.