The noble horse leaped far out from the cliff, hung in the air, it seemed, for one precious second, and then went down swiftly into the raging flood. He struck hard, sank from sight, though Buffalo Bill held his revolver far above his head to prevent its getting wet, for those were not the days of the present improved cartridges. Then the horse arose, and his rider guided him toward the other shore. It was a wild current, and they were swept rapidly down toward the falls; but the horse swam with vigor, and stripped of his saddle and trappings he was not hampered, Buffalo Bill helping him with all his power. At length, the shore was reached, the hoofs touched bottom, and Buffalo Bill dismounted to give the horse a rest. But only for a minute, for, remounting, he set off at a sweeping gallop for the fort, from that point not half a dozen miles. “I have saved all of an hour and a half, if not more. You did it splendidly, Buckskin,” said the scout, and coming back into the trail, he sent the horse flying along at full speed. Within half an hour the light of the fort came into view, and it was not yet midnight. “Ho, sentinel, let me in--I am Buffalo Bill, the scout--and sound the alarm, for help is needed at once, or Sergeant Mobile Buck and his men will all be wiped out!” This startling salute and alarm at once roused the garrison to action, and Buffalo Bill dashed to the headquarters of Major Armes, and reported his coming to that officer and asked for three troops of the Tenth Cavalry to go to the rescue. “God bless you, Cody, you shall have them, and within ten minutes,” cried Major Armes, and the order was given. Within half an hour, mounted upon a fresh horse, Buffalo Bill rode away from the fort at the head of over a hundred black cavalrymen, to the rescue of Sergeant Buck and his band. “I’ll set the pace, Captain Keyes, and those who cannot keep up can follow. “We must make it within three hours, sir,” said Buffalo Bill, and Captain Edward Keyes answered: “Go ahead, Cody, and we’ll be with you.” CHAPTER XIV. THE BLACK TROOPERS AT BAY. As Buffalo Bill knew just how urgent the demand for haste might become, he set a pace that, though he knew many of the troopers might not be able to keep up, yet many would do so, and these could make the attack on the Indians, while the others would constantly be coming up as reënforcements. Major Armes had also promised to send a wagon with rations, a six-pounder gun, and a company of infantry, mounted, as a reserve, in case the Indians should be in still larger force than Buffalo Bill had supposed them to be. To the black troopers in the little hill retreat it was a sad sight to see Buffalo Bill leave them, though they knew that by his going alone was there a chance for their rescue.