“Hired by Rixton Holmes to murder Jared Holmes in Taos.” The interruption came from Bart Angell. He was sitting up, and he winked at Buffalo Bill as he spoke. “A mistake,” said the villain calmly. “Go on with the reading, Miss Wilton.” The girl, who had shown no surprise at the interruption, continued: “He has threatened to kill every member of the Holmes family. The reason for his deadly enmity is the incarceration of his father for burglary, conviction of the crime being due to the evidence of my father, whose house was burglarized. I have received information that Darke is in New Mexico. I am sure he is seeking me. I trust that I may see you before he finds me, but if I am gone when you arrive, this letter will inform you that I have made a will leaving all my property to you and my nephew, Rixton Holmes. In the event of the death of either of you, the survivor is not to inherit the estate of the dead one, but said estate is to become the property of the Territory, and is, when converted into cash, to be used in hunting down and punishing my murderer. “That’s all,” said the girl, as she folded the letter and placed it in the bag. Holmes immediately followed the reading with this explanation: “Because I could not convince Mr. Cody that I was an honest man, one who had been the friend, not the enemy, of Matt Holmes, I permitted him to assume that I was all that his fertile imagination had painted me. I went to Bart Angell’s cabin, not expecting to find him there, and if I acted as if I were not on the side of law and decency, it was because I feared that he, in his mistaken idea of the situation, would butt in and prevent me from looking after my own and Miss Wilton’s interests. And what applies to Buffalo Bill applies, and has applied, to his partner, Bart Angell. They have been used roughly, but there was no other way by which they could have been rendered powerless for harm. It is necessary, in order to obtain the fortune that my uncle has left to me and my Cousin Myra, that we should be in Denver one week from to-day. The mine in which the fortune lies is in litigation. The case will be called next week, and only by my testimony can the mine be saved.” Holmes looked from Angell to the king of scouts, a complacent smile on his dark face. As neither one of his auditors had anything to say at this juncture, he went on coolly: “The mix-up with the Indians to-day is an unfortunate affair. They are friends of mine, and they are not at war with the government. They came with me in order to protect my uncle. I had heard that Tom Darke was on the way to the flat, and, fearing that murder was in his heart, I induced Raven Feather and a few of his braves to accompany me. We arrived too late to prevent arson and murder, but not too late to slay the murderer. In his pocket I found the letter Miss Wilton has just read. Darke probably stole it from the cabin while my uncle was away.”