“No; but I saw a representative of the chief;” and he repeated the story of his coming upon the field of carnage and his adventure with Bennett and the White Antelope, while Keyes hurried him down the hillside toward the troopers’ camp. CHAPTER XXXII. THE BORDER KING’S PLEDGE. With him Captain Keyes had over a hundred cavalrymen, a company of mounted infantry, and two mountain howitzers, numbering, with the artillerymen and scouts, nearly two hundred men--a strong flying column, that could move rapidly and stand off a big force of Indians. They were then encamped not twenty miles from the main village of the Sioux, and not much more than half that distance from the coulée where Danforth’s squadron had been overcome. The coming of Buffalo Bill, although it had been most timely for Captain Keyes, and had undoubtedly saved his life, cast a mantle of gloom over the encampment. Although the men had been warned to turn in early, because of the work before them on the morrow, they stood or sat around the camp-fires until late, discussing the terrible intelligence the scout had brought. And at the officers’ quarters, Buffalo Bill had to relate the story all over again to an eager band of listeners. All had known Dick Danforth, and his death was greatly deplored. As soon as he could get away, and had eaten a bit of supper, Cody sought out his faithful partner, Jack Omohondreau. “Jack, old man, did you ever see the Wild Huntsman?” “What! this fellow who come pretty near bowling over the captain--the Mad Hunter?” “Yes.” “Never. But I’ve seen his spoor--and I’ve seen his work.” “Meaning his dead?” “Yep. Two redskins. He didn’t do a thing but hash them up. Ugh!” “I don’t think I killed him up there. Will you get a couple of torches, and bring two other fellows you can trust, and help me make a search for him?” “Lord! Want to put the finishing touch on him--eh?” “No. I must bring him down here and have the surgeon give him what care he can.” “Whew! You’d best roll him over a precipice by mistake.” “The man is mad.” “Well, then, he isn’t missing much, if he cashes in.” “But perhaps he can be cured.” “Well, are you going to tackle the cure?” “I want to see if he’s dead first,” said Cody non-committingly. “Go find your men--and don’t forget the torches, Jack.” Texas Jack found both, and the four men searched the ridge thoroughly--or as thoroughly as they could by torchlight; but the gigantic madman was not there. He might have crawled into some hole to hide; anyway, they had to give it up for the night. As they returned to camp they found an orderly searching industriously for Buffalo Bill. “Captain Keyes’ compliments, sir, and will you come to his tent at once?” The scout complied with his request. Keyes had his despatch-box open, and was undoubtedly just inditing his report of the day’s work, and of the intelligence the scout had brought him, to his commander at Fort Advance. He motioned the scout to a camp-stool.