Some three months before the opening of this story, the Hale emigrant train had pulled out from Border City, bound for Colorado, under the guidance of a noted gambler, who had suddenly offered his services to run the settlers to their destination. This gambler guide was Kent King, a man well known as a good prairie scout, yet supposed to think too much of his comfort to take to the hardships of an overland journey again. A skillful card player, he always had plenty of money; and, with the education of a gentleman, he was very popular in the society of that day. Judge Hale, the head and front of the settler’s train, was warned against the Gambler Guide. Hale was told that Kent King was only going in that capacity on account of Mary Hale, the only child of the judge; but the warning was unheeded, and the train pulled out on its way to the Far West. As Kent King was a thorough plainsman, a dead shot, and a man of undisputed courage, there were many along who congratulated themselves upon their luck in securing as good a guide. But, from the first, it was evident that Mary Hale was the attraction which drew Kent King. It was also evident that the judge seemed willing that his daughter should receive the attentions of the guide. In fact, Judge Hale encouraged them to such an extent that Parson Miller, an emigrating preacher along with the train, was notified to hold himself in readiness to perform a marriage ceremony within a few days. That the wedding would have taken place there is no doubt but for the timely arrival in camp of Buffalo Bill, the army scout. When Buffalo Bill heard that the girl, with the consent of her father, was to be forced into an immediate marriage with the gambler, he decided at once that she should not be so sacrificed. Buffalo Bill knew that the Gambler Guide was one of the most desperate characters on the border. Therefore, he sought out a character of the train, whose bargaining propensities had gained for him the name of Old Negotiate, and held a conversation with him, the result of which was the conclusion between them that without a parson there would be no wedding. And there was no wedding, for the next morning the parson and Old Negotiate went on a hunt; the former got lost and was found by Buffalo Bill; and when they at last reached the train, weeks after, they were accompanied by a band of Texas herders known as Revolver Riders. This band the reader has already met in this story, in the party of Captain Dash and his men. Their arrival in the camp of the settlers caused a change. Kent King was taken prisoner by Captain Dash, who determined to carry him to Texas, to be tried there for crimes committed, and Buffalo Bill was made the guide of the train to Denver. The judge seemed delighted at the change, for he had been acting under a power held over him by the gambler, who held some secret of his past life. CHAPTER V. BUFFALO BILL’S BET.