Fortunately, Carter, who had been held in another cabin, as the first sentinel had reported, had been brought to this cabin not long before, to be questioned by Ricardo, and was in the room with Rose when Buffalo Bill made his unexpected and spectacular appearance. On a table at one side of the room was a kerosene lamp, whose light illumined the place. Rose and her father were thrown into a state of much excitement by the fighting of the two men, one of whom they knew was an outlaw, whom they had no cause to love, and the identity of the other they could not even conjecture. Not for an instant did they think that he was the great scout, Buffalo Bill. Seeing the connecting door fly open, and hearing behind it the tread and the exclamations of a number of men, Buffalo Bill caught up the kerosene lamp, which was of glass, and hurled it straight at the head of the man who had first appeared, and whom he recognized to be Ricardo himself. The lamp struck the outlaw chief fairly and knocked him down; then, passing on into the other room through the now open door, it fell to the floor, exploding as it fell and scattering fire and burning oil in every direction. It was as if pandemonium had been instantly let loose, for the burning oil, striking the clothing of the men, set them on fire, and enveloped them in flames, and the oil on the floor also catching fire, shot up in red flames to the low ceiling. “Quick!” said the scout. The door to the outside was open before him, and beyond that door was the gorge and the gulch, the prairie and liberty. He caught Rose Carter with one hand and her father with the other, and, before they could question or object, he had pulled them through the doorway to the outside. “Now, run!” he said. “Run for the gorge. I am Buffalo Bill, and I have come here to rescue you. Run, and I will protect with my life if it is needed.” Men were pouring out of the other cabins, for the explosion of the lamp, the leaping flames, and the howls of the men who were burned and blinded, was rousing the whole camp. Buffalo Bill’s fighting blood was up, and, as he fell in behind the running figures of Rose Carter and her father, he was in a mood to fight the whole outlaw camp rather than let the escaping prisoners be retaken. He heard low, hoarse commands, excited yells as some of the men in the burning cabin leaped through the doorways, their garments blazing, and also saw several men running toward the horses that were feeding in the valley behind the camp. With his face toward the camp and a revolver ready in each hand, Buffalo Bill retreated toward the gorge. Some men, seeing him, and recognizing him as an enemy in spite of the disguising clothing, the revolvers of the scout began to rattle. Two of the men dropped dead in their tracks, and another was severely wounded, and this caused the others to draw back. Then there were louder yells and sharper commands, as Ricardo appeared and began to shout orders.