It was some time after daylight when the wagon train, intact, with its escort, reached the fort and relieved the anxiety of the commander. Buffalo Bill and Hickok were closeted for a long time with the general that night, and the latter profusely thanked the scouts for the part they had taken in saving the wagon train. He stated frankly that he believed the coming of the scouts to the fort had saved the supplies and the escort of fifty men, as well as the two women, wives of officers there, and the teamsters. Buffalo Bill told the general of his discoveries concerning Lieutenant Avery and the mysterious “Queen of the Stars.” The general was amazed. He looked almost incredulously at the scout for several moments, and then said: “Twenty years ago, when I was living in Ohio, a man whom I had known from boyhood, Jake Payne, came home from a varied career in the West. He had always been wild and irresponsible, and at an early age ran away from the farm where he had been ‘bound out’ by his guardian--his parents were dead--and was not seen in his native town again until he came home to die from a pistol-shot wound which he said had been given him by his partner. He told a long story of their hardships and adventures in the Black Hills and elsewhere, and how at last they struck it rich. They opened a pocket and took out many thousands of dollars’ worth of pure nuggets of gold. “The Indians became so troublesome that they at last attempted to steal away with their gold. They feared to go east through a country they knew then to be swarming with Indians, and determined to try their luck to the westward, hoping to fall in with other gold seekers or a cavalry detachment, or wagon train. They traveled nights, hiding their trail as much as possible, walking their mules in the beds of streams for miles and choosing the hard and dry mesa wherever possible. “He told how they were chased by a party of Crows one night, and finally surrounded near the base of a particular butte. Their mules were killed and they dragged their treasure bags into a fissure and, there entrenched, held the Indians at bay. “They finally discovered a hole in the rocks, and crawled in with their precious burden and plugged the hole up after them. At daylight the Indians charged, and were greatly mystified at their disappearance. “To make a long story short, they found the mountain to be hollow. It was an absolutely safe retreat, and they remained some time. Later they buried the principal part of their treasure, filling their pockets only, and attempted to make the settlements to the southeast on foot. This they had nearly accomplished when a dispute arose between them regarding the final disposal of their gold, and a shooting affair resulted. Both were fatally injured, Payne finally reaching the nearest settlement, his partner dying on the plain. “Payne described the mountain and hiding place of the gold to me, and I believe your sacred mountain is the place.” CHAPTER XL.