“I’ll go this buck-and-gag game one better,” proceeded the scout. Shifting his revolver to his left hand, with his right he took a pair of handcuffs from his pocket. One of the cuffs he snapped around Phelps’ left wrist, the other around Benner’s right. “I won’t stand for this!” cried Phelps; “I’ll be hanged if I----” The muzzle of the scout’s revolver looked Phelps between the eyes, and his furious protest died on his lips. “You’ll be hanged quick enough, I reckon,” remarked the scout, “if the law ever comes into its own on the Brazos. Just now you’ll stand for whatever I choose to throw your way.” “And I’ve got four men right outside there,” muttered Benner. “Phelps has more men outside than you have, Benner,” said the scout, “and they’re not helping him any more than yours are helping you.” While he was talking he was snapping the other pair of handcuffs into place on Phelps’ right wrist and Benner’s left. When the work was done, the cattle barons were cunningly fastened back to back, torturingly helpless. A coiled riata swung from a peg in the wall. The scout put up his revolver, took down the rope and made ready for a short cast of the loop over the heads and shoulders of the barons. He opened the noose wide, for he wanted it to clear the outstretched arms of the captives. The two men were muttering and writhing, straining at the handcuffs to each other’s visible discomfort. The noose left the scout’s hand, hovered over the heads of the two men and then dropped downward. When the circle of hemp had reached their knees, the scout jerked it suddenly taut. A low laugh came from Perry. He, at least, was enjoying this bit of work. “Take it easy, gentlemen,” laughed Buffalo Bill; “we’re going to talk business in a minute.” CHAPTER VIII. A DASH FOR FREEDOM. Considering the circumstances, Buffalo Bill’s manœuvre was audacious in the extreme. Overawing the barons and treating them in such a high-handed manner, right on their own ground, was a reckless proceeding. It needed a man of resource and determination like the scout to carry it through to a success. Buffalo Bill, however, although he had acted on the spur of the moment, was not blind to the dangers that surrounded him. He was lightning quick in probing chances and forecasting probabilities. There were two things he wanted to do. One was to snatch Perry out of that camp of enemies; and the other was to discover what had become of Perry’s daughter. Moving quickly to the door, Buffalo Bill looked over the surroundings of the cabin. The four cowboys were still smoking and talking under the trees. In the other direction, cowboys were catching up horses out of the corral, saddling and riding away to their places on the range. No one outside the cabin seemed to know or care what was happening to the cattle barons.