Buffalo Bill laughed quietly. “The Bible says, you know, that the wicked flee when no man pursueth. You thought I was after you, when as a matter of fact I had never even heard of you.” “You’d heard of the Redskin Rovers?” “Thanks for the information that these are the Redskin Rovers, though I’d been guessing as much. Yes, I’d heard of the Rovers. But I didn’t know a white man led them, though that has been suspected. Indians are not natural highwaymen, and when they do turn highwaymen they are usually led by a white man.” “I suppose you know why we attacked that house?” “To get me?” “You guess right. We learned you were there, from the Indian whose mustang you killed; and then we felt that we must have you. And now that we have you----” “And now that you have me?” “Well, we don’t intend that you shall get away. As for that fool who escaped, he doesn’t matter.” Evidently this white man did not know old Nick Nomad, who, as a clever fighter and dangerous combatant, was worth any dozen ordinary men. Nomad and Nebuchadnezzar made a combination hard to beat. CHAPTER XII. A DESPERATE VENTURE. Even while Buffalo Bill was talking with the disguised leader of the Redskin Rovers, old Nick Nomad was rapidly working out a plan for the release of the prisoners. Nebuchadnezzar had escaped from the Indians, and had carried with him his saddle and the saddle pouches. The first thing for Nomad to do was to get hold of Nebuchadnezzar. Nomad’s wild yells as he fled, followed by his shrill whistles, were, as Buffalo Bill knew, intended for the ears of that wise old horse, for Nomad had trained Nebuchadnezzar to come in answer to those signals. As he ran in the direction in which “Nebby” had disappeared, and whistled at intervals, even though the Indians were pursuing him in the darkness, the result was that the horse came in his direction. Hence, Nomad had run less than half a mile from the Indian camp when he encountered his faithful steed. “Waugh!” was his whispered exclamation, expressing the most intense satisfaction. “Talk about hosses not havin’ sense! Nebby, you’ve got more sense than half the humans I know.” He walked straight up to the old beast; and then mounting he rode away as quietly as he could. As soon as he felt secure from the redskin pursuit he rode in a wide circuit until he was on the opposite side of the camp, when he again approached it. Then, coming in sight of the fire, he halted. “Nebby,” he said, as he slid out of the saddle, “I dunno if you’ve been robbed by them red skunks er not; but we’ll see.” He opened the saddle pouches, and began to explore them. “Waugh! They tuck all the things in sight!” he chuckled, in a way that did not show displeasure. “But, Nebby----” He ran his fingers into a secret pocket in one of the pouches, and brought out a small flat package. “They never found this hyar, and it’s ther truck I’m wantin’.”