They gathered round him, with astonished questions. “But Lieutenant Barlow wouldn’t----” “I ask for an investigation. Can any one find Barlow in the fort, or find the young lady? Let a search be made; and, meanwhile, some of you come with me and see my prisoner.” They found the rascal, Smallpox Dave, trying to crawl away. He had made good progress, too, in spite of his being bound; but he dropped back sullenly when the scout and the troopers rode up to him. “Tell these men what you told me,” the scout commanded; “I mean the name of the man who came over the wall with the young woman in his arms and has now ridden away.” Smallpox Dave’s wrath blazed out now like the flash of a gunpowder explosion. A great oath ripped from his lips. “Yes, and cuss him for the coward he is; he’s cut out, takin’ my hoss, as well as his!” he declared. “I’ll settle with him fer that!” “His name?” said the scout. “His name? Why, it’s that lieutenant, Barlow! And we was to work together, and I was to have half of it, and----” “The name of the girl?” “Ther one he was sweet on--ther Arlington girl, livin’ over yender on the prairies.” “But there may be--must be--a mistake,” urged Corporal Clendenning. “Lieutenant Barlow wouldn’t do a thing of this kind. Besides, we can’t accept the word of such a man as this scoundrel. Cody, I’m afraid you’re making a mistake, and----” “Corporal Clendenning, you’re the man in command here now. Give me some men to make a pursuit with.” “Cody, I shall----” “Furnish me a horse, then. My own horse is lame at present.” “But Cody----” objected Clendenning again. “Can I have a horse? Every moment makes pursuit more difficult.” “In my opinion, Lieutenant Barlow is within the fort now, and this man is lying,” said Clendenning. “What his object is I don’t know.” As Corporal Clendenning was unwilling to believe the statement of Smallpox Dave, and so was reluctant to furnish the scout with a horse before making an investigation, Buffalo Bill returned into the grounds of the fort with the troopers, taking his prisoner with him. They were no more than inside when Mrs. McGee appeared, raging and almost hysterical. “Oh, the thafe!” she cried. “That I should live to see it, and that he should strike me in that way! Och, whin I get me two hands on him I’ll choke him black in the face! Who was it? ’Twas Lieutenant Barlow! I’ve knowed he was that crooked he c’u’dn’t walk straight! And it’s the gyurl he has taken wid him, bad cess to his picture! I don’t understand it at all, but----” “There, Clendenning, is part of the proof you want!” said the scout. “Look for Lieutenant Barlow here, and you’ll find him gone. Look for the girl here, and you’ll find, likewise, that she is gone. Give me a horse, so that I may go in pursuit, if you don’t dare to take the responsibility of conducting such a pursuit yourself.” There was a stir beyond the palisade gate, together with the challenge of a sentry. “Who goes there?” the sentry asked.