The man was not deceived. His revolver came out, and the bullet whistled by the scout’s cheek. Almost at the same instant Buffalo Bill returned fire, and the man fell. The shooting drew a number of men out of the house, and the scout saw it was prudent to retreat. Crawling back toward the hiding place by the river, he bumped into Nick Nomad. “I had ter foller yer, Buffler,” Nomad apologized. * * * * * Before morning came the outlaws departed. As soon as it was light enough to see, the scout, together with Nomad and Pizen Kate, began to look over the grounds. They were soon joined by the youth; and then the young woman appeared, accompanied by Latimer. Latimer seemed ill and suffering; but his weakness and his lethargic manner departed together when he came upon the body of the outlaw who had been slain by Buffalo Bill. He stood looking into the face of the dead man with an appearance of stupefied unbelief. Then, with something akin to a scream, he toppled over, insensible. When the scout and the others looked into the face of the dead man they observed how remarkable in appearance it was to the face of John Latimer. CHAPTER XVII. THE MYSTERY SOLVED. Their amazement was not of long duration, however, for the young man proceeded to make explanations. He stated that Latimer was much of the time irresponsible mentally. His stories of the singular disappearances of his servants were simply the fancies of an unbalanced mind. In fact, there were periods when he was a madman. Being a very wealthy man--a millionaire--he had, as a crazy whim, built the big house on the lonely mesa; and with him lived his daughter, and the young man who was her affianced husband. Their thought was that his mental troubles would soon pass away. Hence they humored his whims. And when he stated that Buffalo Bill was to be his guest, and for reasons of his own he wished the scout to think he resided there alone, they acceded to his wish, and kept out of sight. Yet they were, nevertheless, seen at intervals. On the occasion when the girl came to the scout and whispered to him to follow her, and took his hand to lead him, she, in the darkness, thought he was Latimer. As for the hidden trapdoor and the concealed door in the kitchen, with their connecting tunnels leading to the river, those were planned and built by Latimer for purposes of safety; and they had justified their erection and planning. “But what is the reason for his strange action on seeing the dead outlaw?” asked Cody. “He will tell you that, I think,” replied the young man. “Come, let’s carry him back to the house.” They did so, but before Latimer revived, old Nick Nomad told his part of the story.