“There, there, daddy”—speaking caressingly—“you have miscalled your feeling. You really want to go to the castle. Now, be honest and tell the truth.” “Well, I would like to go,” replied the colonel slowly, “but not under your conditions.” The argument went on, and finally the colonel capitulated. The quartet reached the grove in front of the castle just before dark. There was found the greater part of Wild Bill’s force. Two Comanches had been detailed to watch the mouth of the tunnel, and three others had their station at the rear of the building. “You are sure, Hickok, that the Apaches are inside, are you?” asked Buffalo Bill. “Yes. Several shots have been fired from the windows.” “What is your program?” “To stay here and starve them out. Can you suggest a better one?” “I will tell you in a minute. Did those shots from the windows do any damage?” “No. They were fool shots, fired to annoy us, I suppose, to give the impression that the inmates of the castle defied any attempt to rout them out.” “You’ll have to stay here a month, Hickok; that is, if you are allowed to stay, before the garrison will be out of provisions.” “Nonsense. I know, by what Black Wing told me, that there is not enough grub in the shebang to last a dozen men a week.” “True, but suppose there are but two persons in the castle?” Wild Bill caught his breath. “Do you mean——” “Yes,” the king of scouts quickly interrupted. “I mean that the Apaches are not in the castle. They are playing trick against trick. Flag-pole Jack and Shorty Sands are inside, no others are there, and the shots were fired to make you believe the whole force of the enemy is in there. Do you catch on? At this minute, if I am not clear out of my reckoning, the Apaches are preparing to sneak up and massacre your whole outfit.” “They will come from the rear, then.” “Naturally.” Wild Bill, who had been sitting on the ground, arose to his feet and issued some quick orders to the Comanches. Four of them at once stole away in the darkness, going along the edge of the valley, two on each side. As soon as they had departed, Buffalo Bill went to Sybil Hayden’s side and whispered: “There is likely to be trouble soon, and you must not be where you would run the chance of catching a stray bullet. Go around the wall until you get to a large, low-growing pine. Climb the tree, you will find it easy work, and wait until it is safe for you to return here.” The girl at first refused to go, but upon her father’s supplication she left for the pine. She had been gone five minutes, and the scouts sent out by Wild Bill had just returned with a startling report, when a scream, fraught with deadly terror, awoke the stillness and pierced Colonel Hayden’s heart like a knife. He was running along the wall in the direction of the sound when Buffalo Bill dashed by him, going at race-horse speed. A pistol shot was fired when the king of scouts was within a few yards of the pine tree.