The scout would not agree to this proposition, but decided to go himself to the fort, leaving the others at the sacred mountain, and telling them not to be uneasy if he did not return for several days. He expressed the utmost confidence in the ability of Little Cayuse to come out on top, but if the Piute had not reached the fort, he, the scout, should go into the mountains looking for the Indian pard. He still believed the Ogallalas had a village there and were conducting their raids from such a centre. As soon as it was dark the scout mounted Bear Paw and set out. Before leaving he cautioned Nomad and Skibo to be watchful and keep close to the rocks until he returned, or an escort came for Lieutenant Avery. It was a lonely night ride to the fort, but without adventure of any sort. Little Cayuse had not been seen. The scout told the general of the finding of Lieutenant Avery and his wife, and that the officer was fully recovered and ready to return to the fort. The general was rejoiced at this piece of good news and promised to send horses and an escort at once. But the scout’s work was just begun. What had become of Little Cayuse? He had no doubt that Indians were at the bottom of Cayuse’s disappearance, but how they had succeeded in capturing the wily Piute on the open plain puzzled the scout. He resolved to sleep until daylight and then set out on a blind trail and trust to luck, or his intuitive bent toward a solution of such problems. At sunrise a detachment of fifty cavalrymen, leading two extra horses, set out for the sacred mountain, Buffalo Bill and Hickok riding with them for a mile or two and then turning away toward the Big Horn range. The scout and Wild Bill struck the mouth of the cañon previously referred to by Wild Bill in speaking to Captain Smith. On several occasions Hickok had suggested a ride to this cañon, but some excuse had been found by the captain each time to ride in another direction. Hickok told Buffalo Bill, as they rode slowly on toward the mountains, all that he had learned from Captain Smith, and also of his suspicions aroused by certain incidents. The previous evening an apparently old and decrepit Indian had come to the fort begging. He asked to see Captain Smith, as that officer had been generous to him at other visits. The captain was called, held a few moments’ low and hurried conversation with the beggar, gave the latter food and tobacco and something else that looked like a small missive, and then stalked back toward his quarters, swearing about “these Indian beggars.” Wild Bill had quietly slipped out and followed the Indian, who became an active young buck the moment he was outside the fort, and in an arroyo half a mile away, mounted a pony and galloped toward the western hills.