It was what he had half feared since finding the evidence of a mined path--Hickok had been killed by a bomb and his body dragged away to dump into some old mine shaft or otherwise hidden from possible searchers. The scout followed the trail for some distance in the brush along the base of the dump, and then came to a sharp angle in the rock, where a narrow shelf led down a circuitous way, apparently into the mouth of another entrance to the mine above, at a lower level. The scout crept cautiously forward, ready for instant action if Bloody Ike or his pals were expecting callers. But not even Buffalo Bill was prepared for the move which was adopted by the wretch hidden in the rocks above. The scout heard a slight movement above him, and instinctively sprang forward and in close to the wall. As he did so a great mass of rock came hurtling down, struck the shelf where he had stood, and crashed onward into the abyss below. Pa-e-has-ka was well concealed in his present position behind jutting rocks and a tangle of bushes and vines. By leaning far forward and peering upward through the thick foliage he commanded a view of the cliff above from whence the slide had started. He saw a wicked, bewhiskered face peering over the edge and anxiously scanning the deeper chasm below. “Guess that fixed ’im!” the scout heard the man chuckle. “Waal, that disposes of two of ’em that we know about. Guess ole Long Hair won’t sashay round here huntin’ trouble right away.” Buffalo Bill was tempted to put a bullet in the evil brain, but he had never yet pointed a gun at an unarmed or unprepared human being, be he ever so bad. He would await his opportunity to take the fellow back where he would receive just and legal punishment for his crimes. Making his way cautiously into the mouth of the shaft, the scout secreted himself in a dark angle behind the rotting timbers, convinced that the fellow above would go to the base of the cliff to satisfy himself that his victim had been crushed to pulp in the avalanche of rock. He had not long to wait. He saw the fellow clamber nimbly down from his hiding place, apparently well acquainted with every detail of the mountainside. The fellow came within three rods of the entrance, and then suddenly swung over the edge of the rocky precipice, and was lost to view. A moment later Buffalo Bill crept out and peered over the edge. He saw the man below him making his way from rock to rock, clinging to bushes and roots, and descending into the cañon. The scout drew back and decided to explore the shaft for a short distance while the tenant was absent. He believed Bloody Ike was hiding here until the investigation following the destruction of the hotel had blown over. He found his suspicions confirmed. In an alcove in the incline he discovered a rude cot of straw and blankets, and far down the one-time muleway he heard a pony whinny. “So he keeps his pony in here, too,” mused the scout.