Smallpox Dave came out of his concealment and up-ended against the wall a length of timber, slanting it against the wall. To the top of this he scrambled, and reached up his arms to help Barlow with his burden. “Be careful there,” Barlow cautioned. “What ye got?” was the question. “A girl--a woman. She’s fainted. Steady there!” He clambered over the top of the wall, and with Barlow’s help began to slide down to the ground. At this juncture May Arlington came suddenly out of her swoon. The descending motion made her think she was falling, and she screamed. Apparently the time for action on the scout’s part had come. Buffalo Bill sprang forward, a revolver swinging in his right hand. “Halt there!” he commanded. The girl screamed, and a curse of rage broke from Barlow. “Halt!” said the scout. “Surrender that girl, whoever she is, and whoever you are.” Smallpox Dave was unfortunately so frightened by this that he gave a wild jump backward, away from the wall; and in this jump one of his flying feet struck the end of the scout’s extended revolver. A loud report sounded, as the revolver was discharged harmlessly into the air. The girl and Barlow dropped together to the ground, seeming to fall in a heap. Smallpox Dave, being down, and hardly knowing what he did, caught Buffalo Bill by the ankle, as the scout tried to leap to the aid of the girl. The result was that the scout came down heavily across the body of Smallpox Dave, who wound his arms around Buffalo Bill, and tried to hold him. The scout smashed his fist into the face of the renegade and tried to wrench loose. Valuable time was thus lost, and this valuable time Barlow made the most of, by catching the girl up in his arms and running with her straight out from the wall into the darkness. When Buffalo Bill succeeded in breaking the hold of Smallpox Dave, he leaped to his feet, with the intention of rushing in pursuit of Barlow, but again he was balked by the renegade, who caught him once more by the ankles and tripped him so that he fell sprawling. Nevertheless, he sprang up and went in pursuit of the vanishing forms as quickly as he could. But the time lost had been all in favor of Lieutenant Barlow. The darkness was a friendly aid. Buffalo Bill could not now see him, nor, when he stopped to harken, could the scout hear him. Buffalo Bill dropped flat to the ground, and listened with ear pressed to the earth. The only sounds reaching him were from the direction of the palisade wall. Footsteps were approaching from that direction, which led the scout to think that the man who had so troubled and foiled him there was advancing. “Gone into hiding,” was his conclusion concerning the man with the girl; “and if he is clever at it, in this darkness he will make trouble.” For some time he lay flat on his face listening. Finally he rose to a half-sitting position, for the man advancing stealthily from the direction of the wall was now quite near.