Barlow disregarded the command to halt, and ran to get his horse, dragging the girl with him. She began to scream, and to try to release herself, but Barlow clung to her, and to his stolen nuggets. Another command was bellowed at him, but he still disregarded it. There was a flash of fire and the report of a rifle. The man giving the command to halt had fired. Barlow fell, pitching forward on his face. The attack swept through the Cheyenne village like a whirlwind. The Indians who sought to fight were pistoled. Where they made no resistance they were unharmed, and where they surrendered they were merely made prisoners. Red Wing tried to lead a fierce resistance, and fell at the head of his following. The other young bucks who had taken so gayly to the bloody warpath broke and fled, most of them being captured the next day, while some, resisting, were killed. Thus the threatened Cheyenne war was nipped in the bud. The medicine man, though wounded by Barlow, escaped otherwise unscathed. Buffalo Bill insisted that the sacred nuggets should be returned to him; which was done, though some of the troopers would have despoiled him if they had been permitted. Thus the end came to Lieutenant Barlow, the young renegade, in the moment when he hoped for the success of his plans. The end of the campaign was a quiet wedding, in the little sod house out on the prairie near Fort Cimarron. Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill attended the wedding, and so did Colonel Montrose, and many of the troopers from the fort. As a wedding present, the colonel gave May Arlington the gold nugget which had first been brought to her in the letter. No happier bridegroom ever lived than Ben Stevens. As for Wilkins, the young man who had carried the letter and had been to some extent the tool of Barlow, he made a full confession at his trial by court-martial. He lost his position in the army, but was not otherwise punished. CHAPTER XXXII. ALCOHOL AND ELOQUENCE. “There were extenuating circumstances for the young fellow,” remarked Cody to Wild Bill, commenting on the trial of Wilkins, a few days later. “Chief of them is his youth. I really felt sorry for him when he told me about his difficulties.” “Well, you certainly helped his case as far as possible,” Wild Bill replied. “It’s a pity we didn’t get that scoundrel, Barlow, to serve as an example of military punishment!” “No use regretting that now; the dog is dead. Well, for my part, I’m off again.” “Where do you intend to go now? To Scarlet Gulch?” “Yes; I think it’s about time I investigate those rumors about my crimes, that are floating around in that section of the country.” “So do I. If you remember, that’s what I came here to tell you; but we’ve been busy with other matters. When will you start?” “To-day. I’ve said good-by to the colonel. Will you join me, Hickok?”