The sport becoming boisterous, the two white men came forth to witness the ceremonies. They had shed much of their outer garments, including the hair and beard which had been used for disguise, and Little Cayuse instantly recognized his old friends of the Gallatin Valley--Price, the Indian agent, and Bloody Ike, the ex-miner and blasting expert. Cayuse now understood how he came to be known to them and why he was wanted by them. The Piute fully realized the seriousness of his situation and resolved to escape, even if by taking most desperate risks. CHAPTER XLIV. THE PARDS VISIT THE INDIANS. It did not take long for the scout and Hickok to decide to pay the wooded area among the mountain tops a visit. They were probably two hundred feet above the woodland, and hoped they could make their way down the side with ease. It proved no easy task and the last lap was a hard one. At the edge of the woodland was a perpendicular drop, an unscalable cliff as far as they could discover entirely around that side of the great basin, varying in height from thirty to seventy feet. Fortunately, when they had hidden the saddles, they had taken off their lariats, and retained them for possible use in mountain climbing. They selected a spot where the evergreens grew close to the wall and the scout fastened one end of his lariat to a stout cedar and slid over the rim. He landed lightly in the moss at the base and then Hickok followed. The lariat was left hanging for future use, and the pair, marking well the spot, set out on a tour of inspection. Their progress in the moist, springy moss was noiseless, but they realized that quick-eyed Indians on the watch could also move as noiselessly as they. The pards traveled a rod or two apart and constantly scanned their surroundings. They were in the enemy’s country and it behooved them to exercise great caution. At last the scout paused to listen. He had caught the sound of a human voice. It was far away across the forest, but it was unmistakably the call of a man. The answer came and the pards stared at each other in amazement--the voice was that of a white man, and an American. As the pards approached, the voices became more distinct, and at last they could distinguish words exchanged between two men who were some distance apart and carrying on a conversation. The men were busy at some labor, and presently the scouts made out that the strangers were picking boughs, probably for a bunk. Buffalo Bill was surprised again that whites should be here and apparently so free from fear of interruption by red men. “Who could they be?” They might be miners, but this location must be at least two miles from the seams and gashes of the mountain rock, in any direction. They could not be mining in the centre of this deep, mucky soil that furnished food for a great forest. The pards crept nearer, and at last, secreted behind evergreen shrubs, could see the men plainly.