“Don’t shoot!” he said, for he did not want to send such an alarm to Buffalo Bill. He had the girl, whom he had desired, and as for old Nomad, he did not care much about him, one way or another. Buffalo Bill and Pawnee Bill he desired to capture, or to kill. Hence his caution. “Don’t shoot!” he said again. “But he’s gittin’ away!” “Let him go! He’s no good to us, anyhow. But Cody and Pawnee Bill will be comin’ back here purty soon, in answer to that racket. They’ll want to see what it means, an’ we’ll rake ’em in right here, if the boyees down at the pass don’t do it. Down with you fellers, and git the horses back; and don’t one of ye so much as breathe. Here, young lady, come with me, and keep yer handsome mouth shet, er I’ll put a knife into it, by way of a gag.” The escape of Nick Nomad had come with such stunning suddenness that Lena Forest could hardly credit it, and knew not what to do, or think. When Black John seized her by the wrist and drew her back into the bushes, she did not at first make any resistance, but she began to struggle when she comprehended what this meant--the capture of Buffalo Bill. “I shall cry out and warn him,” was her thought. “They can’t scare me enough to keep me from doing that.” She was thinking, too, in a wild way, of Bruce, wondering where he was, for she had been sure he was with the road agents. Though she could not see their faces, she was certain these were the road agents who had held up the stage, and, therefore, that they were the same scoundrels who held Bruce a prisoner. She forgot the torn and shocking condition of her dress, in her desire to warn Buffalo Bill. And lest the outlaws should gag her, or remove her to some other place, she tried to give them now as little trouble as possible. So she crouched down, as Black John ordered her to, and listened with the listening outlaws for some sound that would show Buffalo Bill was returning. However, that sound did not come, nor was anything heard from the direction of the pass to indicate that the scout had fallen into the ambush laid for him there. “Cuss him!” said Black John, breathing hard. “What’s happened, I wonder? He and Pawnee Bill ought to have heard that row, and be comin’ back.” “We’ve got the gal, anyway,” said one of the rascals, with a grin; “and I’m believin’ she must have them em’rulds. If she ain’t, he has; and we’ll git ’em, er know why.” The “he” referred to Bruce Clayton. Still no sound reached them indicating the return of the two scouts. CHAPTER XXXIX. THE EMERALDS GONE. When Black John and his masked bandits had waited so long for the return of Buffalo Bill and Pawnee Bill that their patience was worn out, they left the concealment of the bushes. It was certain that the scouts had not fallen into the trap in the pass. If that had happened, rifle shots and the sounds of a conflict would have notified them.