He turned to the chief whom the scout was freeing from the lariat that had been the cause of his capture. The redskin king had accepted his fate philosophically. His look and bearing was of fearlessness and savage dignity. He had been captured by the palefaces, and so humbled in the eyes of a thousand braves; but he was defiant still, and his features would not reveal his heart-anguish to those foes that now surrounded him with flushed faces. The stoical traits of the Indian character cannot but arouse admiration in the white man’s breast. From babyhood the redskin is taught--both by precept and instinct--to utter no cry of pain, to reveal no emotion which should cause a foe pleasure. When captured by other savages, the Indian will go to the fire, or stand to be hacked to pieces by his enemies, with no sound issuing from his lips but the death-chant. And this Spartan fortitude is present in the very papooses themselves. A traveler once told how, in walking through an Indian village, he came upon a little baby tied in the Indian fashion to a board, the board leaning against the outside of a wigwam. The mother had left it there and the white man came upon it suddenly. Undoubtedly his appearance, and his standing to look at the small savage, frightened it as such an experience would a white child. But his voice was not raised. Not a sound did the poor little savage utter; but the tears formed in his beady eyes and ran down his fat cheeks. Infant that he was, and filled with fright of the white man, he would not weep aloud. Oak Heart, the savage king, looked abroad upon his enemies, and his haughty face gave no expression of fear. He was a captive, but his spirit was unconquered. “This is a good job, Cody,” whispered Baldwin, glancing again at the chieftain. “We can make use of him, eh?” “We can, indeed, major,” returned the scout. “But that crowd out yonder will be watching us all the closer now. How under the sun anybody can get through them after this----” “Leave it to me, major,” interrupted Buffalo Bill firmly. “I am ready to make the trial--and make it now!” CHAPTER IV. BUFFALO BILL’S PLOT. There was a look on Buffalo Bill’s face as he spoke that informed Major Baldwin that the scout had already formed some plan which he wished to make known to him. So the officer said: “Come to my quarters, Cody, and we will talk it over. Captain Keyes, kindly take charge of the chief and see that he is neither ill-treated or disturbed. Some of these boys feel pretty ugly, I am sure. We have lost a number of good men, and two of the children have been frightfully wounded by arrows coming through the lower loopholes.” When the major and the scout reached the former’s office, Baldwin said: “Are you in earnest in this attempt, Cody?” “Never more so, Major Baldwin. Help we _must_ have.” “No man knows the danger better than you do. I need not warn you.” “Quite needless, sir. I know the game from A to Z.”