“And when he’s out o’ ther way, there won’t be so durned much danger fer fellers like you and me what has ter make our livin’ by workin’ ther public in one way and another. But, of course, ther vigilantes, except two or three more in addition ter me and Rainey, don’t understand that, and we don’t want ’em to; they don’t know nothin’ about there bein’ two Buffalo Bills. And so we’ll bag him as soon as he hits ther town. And then he dances hornpipes on the thin atmosphere, and it’s all over with him, and we gits peace out here fer a while fer men of our stripe. I calls it a handsome plan, and so does Rainey. And so does Poker Dan, the gambler. We three really ’riginated and developed the scheme, and it’s a dandy. We didn’t want you to walk into the trap, and maybe have ther vigilantes hang you; and so, as I said, I rid fer this p’int, with this here warning.” “I thank you for that, anyway, Slocum. When will Buffalo Bill be here?” “That’s what we don’t know,” said Slocum, observing that Panther Pete’s followers pressed forward to hear what he said. “I knew he’d come sooner or later, Bug-eye; this business was sure to reach him. And I wanted it to.” Slocum stared. “For, you see,” Panther Pete went on, “it’s a little game I’ve been playing here myself, to git him hung. He put me in jail once, a year ago, and I ain’t forgot it. When I broke out o’ that jail, I left behind me a little note fer him, tellin’ him that we’d meet again in the sweet by and by, and I would settle accounts with him. Then I planned to play this trick. I thought it would ruin him in reputation, maybe; and, at any rate, that when he did arrive here a mob would get him, fer the crimes I’d been doing.” He looked hard at Slocum. “I was on my way to the town. Will it be safe to go now?” “I’d advise agin’ it, as I said, and that’s why I’m here. Keep away frum it.” “All right,” he said. “Work this trick, and hang Buffalo Bill as soon as he hits Scarlet Gulch. Then we’ll have a free hand for a while, and I’ll have the revenge I swore I’d have when I broke out of that jail. But, just the same, I’m going into the town to-night. I’ve got a reason which says I’ve got to go, and I’m going.” He laughed recklessly. “Call off your dogs of war, Slocum, while I’m there; get ’em all to drinking in the Flash Light. You can get ’em so drunk on Rainey’s pizen that they won’t know anything until morning. I’ve got a reason to be in that town, and in I’m going, even if Buffalo Bill was there himself.” CHAPTER XXXIV. LURED INTO DANGER. It needed no very strong invitation to set the crowd at Rainey’s to filling themselves full of “pizen.” A simple hint from Slocum that Rainey was “setting ’em up” was all that was necessary.