“Of course, it wasn’t a red. And a madman----” “I’ve got it!” exclaimed the lieutenant suddenly. “That was the Mad Hunter.” “Pshaw! do you believe there is such a person?” “One of our old sergeants says he met him, and that the madman took a pot-shot at him,” declared the lieutenant. “Well. I’ve heard of him myself.” “And that chap was a big man, all right.” “A giant.” “And as crazy as a bedbug,” added Danforth decidedly. “Don’t know how crazy they are; but this chap certainly acted as though he was a good subject for restraint. Ugh! did you ever hear such a yell?” “I know you stopped me from making a very pretty shot, Bill,” laughed the youngster. “That’s the second time. The next time I’ll be tempted to turn my gun on you, old man.” Cody became grave again the instant he was reminded of how Danforth had come near to shooting White Antelope, but he made no rejoinder. They hurried back to the edge of the swamp, and, leaving the cavalryman to watch, the scout and the lieutenant soon found the root to which Cody had tied the lariat, and, with some little difficulty, dragged the submerged box into view. There was a handle upon each end, and between them the two friends carried the chest back to the stage-coach. They loaded it aboard, one of the troopers tied his horse behind and took the reins, and four rode before and behind the coach as guard. Just as dusk fell the paymaster’s chest resumed its journey to Fort Advance, with the dead bodies of its former unfortunate guardians. CHAPTER XX. A DOUBLE CAPTURE. Lieutenant Danforth and the bulk of his squad attended Buffalo Bill on his search for the gang of outlaws. As soon as the coach was well on its way, they rode to the spot where Boyd Bennett and his men had left the trail, and, despite the fact that it was rapidly growing dark, they picked up the hoofmarks of the renegades’ horses and followed them rapidly for some miles. Although the sky was clear and there was a long evening, the party of trailers could not keep on for long. They got well into the hills; but the tracks of the outlaw gang showed that Bennett had kept on at a swift pace, and it was utterly useless for the troop to wear out their own mounts and possibly miss the trail itself after dark. “It’s a long chase, as a stern chase always is, Dick,” said the scout. “We might as well make up our minds to that, first as last.” “So I suppose, Bill.” “But as long as we’re once on the scoundrel’s trail, I’ll stick to it to the end,” said Cody grimly. “Better rest up the men and horses and make an early start.” “Right you are. How’s yonder place for a camp?” “In among those rocks--yes. We can set sentinels on the top of them. Nobody can approach us then.” “All right. Too bad I didn’t drop that caribou. A little fresh meat would have been agreeable.” “No smoke, boy. Can’t afford to make a fire. We’re not only following some pretty shrewd white men, but we’re in the Injun country.” “Thunder!”