Wild Bill

“ Wild Bill has done bloody work–cruel work in his time, but Persimmon Bill has killed ten men to his one."
"It is strange that an intelligent woman like Addie Neidic should love such a man."
"No–he is both a martyr and a hero in her eyes. A more stately form, a nobler face, never met favor in the eyes of woman. To his foes fierce and relentless, to her he is gentle and kind. She will never meet aught but tenderness at his hands."
"I wish I could have seen him."
"You may yet see him, Mr. Pond. He travels the plains as free as the antelopes which bound from ridge to ridge. ”

“ I know that my friend Cody is too white a man to ever do anything that would call for a hanging bee.” He smiled upon Buffalo Bill. “Eh, pard, what have they got it in for you for?”
Not a man there but had heard of Wild Bill, and many of them knew him by sight; so that when it was known that this was Wild Bill, the most dare-devil and reckless shot of the West, the man who feared not the face of clay, and if report spoke correctly would rather shoot than eat, there was a falling back. ”

“ I am thine until death. We will never part while life thrills our veins. Your triumphs shall be mine; I will glory in your courage, and in your enterprise. I have arms and well know their use. No warrior in all your following can ride better than I. That I am fearless I really believe, for twice inside of ten hours have I defied Wild Bill in his anger, and laughed when his hand was on his pistol. But take me to your camp. I am tired, and the night air is chilly; and take care of the pack horse. ”

“ 'Wild Bill' was a strange character, just the one which a novelist might gloat over. He was a plains-man in every sense of the word, yet unlike any other of his class. ”

“ The authorities of Kansas City had so vigorously prosecuted the gamblers that the professionals were compelled to abandon their games, and thus Bill became, to use his own expression, “severely money-bound.” Buntline, with a vivid imagination running at all times through carnage and lawlessness, employed his best ability in getting up the posters heralding the appearance of his troupe. Wild Bill was posted in large, blood-red letters as having killed thirty-six men, and the most desperate man that ever set foot on the plains. ”

“ The men of Suffering Creek thought they knew this man. But it is doubtful if anybody, even the man himself, knew Wild Bill. Probably the nearest approach to a fair estimate of him would have been to describe him as a sort of driving force to a keen brain and hot, passionate heart. Whether he possessed any of the gentler human feelings only his acts could show, for so hard and unyielding was his manner, so ruthless his purpose when his mind was made up, that it left little room for the ordinary observer to pack in a belief of the softer side to the man. ”

“ When Wild Bill and Sam Chichester entered the saloon alluded to in our first chapter, they were hailed by several jovial-looking men, one of whom Wild Bill warmly responded to as California Joe, while he grasped the hand of another fine-looking young man whom he called Captain Jack. ”

“ Such is the faithful picture of Wild Bill as drawn by General Custer, who was a close observer and student of personal character, and under whom Wild Bill served as a scout. ”

“ One of the reasons for my desire to make the acquaintance of Wild Bill was to obtain from his own lips a true account of some of the adventures related of him. It was not an easy matter. It was hard to overcome the reticence which marks men who have lived the wild mountain life, and which was one of his valuable qualifications as a scout. ”

“ That suspicion might not be attracted to him, Buffalo Bill now drew his pony back, while Wild Bill spoke to the girl.
[198]
“A fine evening,” he said, in his musical voice. “This is an evening when one likes to see friends. It would not surprise me if friends were near. The stars up there look friendly, and the mist we have been having is clearing away.” ”

“ The Cheyennes were now bunching not far off, and were yelling and calling, to summon all the members of the band.
“I’m afraid they have captured her again,” said Buffalo Bill reluctantly.
“We might edge closer in and see,” Wild Bill suggested.
“I’ll do so; it will be safer for me. You hang around out here. I’ll join you soon. I must see if the girl is there.”
Wild Bill did not like to be separated from his pard, but he saw the wisdom of the proposal.
Poor as the light was, the Indians, with their keen eyes, were likely to spot him as a white man, if he came too near them. ”

“ The Black Hawk horse, saddled and bridled, but riderless, galloped on by the side of the Texan's fleet mustang, with no wish to part from his company.
"He had death in his eye! He will kill Wild Bill, and we shall never see him again," said Persimmon Bill. "The miners are rough, and condemn before they try, and hang as soon as condemnation is spoken. I pity the boy–for he is but a boy."
Addie Neidic smiled. ”

“ Both Wild Bill and Buffalo Bill understood what was seething in their minds; and, if they had not so understood, the cries that now went up would have quickly informed them.
“Stand outer the way, thar, Wild Bill!” a man yelled. “We ain’t got no fight against you; but t’other feller we’re after, and aire goin’ to have.” ”

“ That will be all. If you live to claim the deed you are welcome to it. Where’s your nerve?’”
[123]
Buffalo Bill, with a queer smile playing about the corners of his mouth, refolded the paper and stowed it carefully away in his pocket.
“Of course,” he remarked, “Lawless thinks he has a trap laid for me in the Forty Thieves.”
“He’s got something up his sleeve, all right,” agreed Wild Bill, “but if he thinks you haven’t got the nerve to hang out in that mine for three days and nights, why, he’s wide of his trail, that’s all.”
“Ther mine’s wuth ther risk,” said Nomad. ”

“ They jumped at the barrier like madmen, and to such good purpose did they ply pick and shovel, that, a few moments after Wild Bill had ceased to call to them, the scout’s pick went through the wall, and a mass of broken stones tumbled outward, leaving a good-sized opening. ”

“ About this time the government bought from Jones and Cartwright several ox-trains, which were sent to Rolla, Missouri, all being put in charge of my old and gallant friend, Wild Bill, who had just become the hero of the day, on account of a terrible fight which he had had with a gang of desperadoes and outlaws, who infested the border under the leadership of the then notorious Jake McCandless. In this fight he had killed McCandless and three of his men.
The affair occurred while Wild Bill was riding the pony express in western Kansas. ”

“ An outlet from the mine seemed such a simple thing to find, and yet it had baffled him. The whole mystery, in a less matter-of-fact mind than the scout’s, or Wild Bill’s, would have taken on a supernatural aspect.
“I’m up the biggest kind of a stump, Cody,” admitted Wild Bill, “and the more we try to solve the riddle, the higher up I get. The stone in the wall seems to be as solid as Gibraltar, and if there was a hole—even a masked opening—leading to another passage, there would certainly be some kind of a ‘break’ in the side of the level. But there isn’t any break—the walls are continuous.” ”

“ Then, at considerable length, Wild Bill set forth his [84] experiences, beginning with his ride to Sun Dance with Crawling Bear, and his investigation of the shooting in the mine.
“A job of salt!” muttered Buffalo Bill. “The atmosphere is beginning to clear.”
“Lawless,” proceeded Wild Bill, “is expecting a man here to take ore-samples from the mine. If the mine pans out, according to schedule, a hundred thousand is to change hands. ”

“ There, upon the soil of the mother country, before tens of thousands of Britishers, the Wild West held sway for months, while the hero of the plains, the prairie boy, found himself honored by royalty, a welcome visitor across the threshold of palaces, fêted by men whose names were known the wide world over.
Bearing the stars and stripes in his hand, mounted upon his finest charger, Buffalo Bill saluted the queen, who rose, and bowed in salutation to the American flag, borne by so fit a representative of his country. ”

“ She is now pursuing the same calling in Kansas City, but though still a fine looking woman, very few traces of her former beauty remain. She is wealthy, however, and what she now lacks in natural appearance, she compensates for by artificial means, and is still a leader of her kind. Bill’s love for her was undoubtedly genuine, although he never asked her hand in marriage. Bill Thompson, a big bully, and handy with his pistol, was also a worshiper at the same shrine, and hated Wild Bill more inveterately than any other man on earth. ”

“ As we were to pull out in the morning, Wild Bill rode out to our camp that evening to take supper with us. The evening was pleasantly passed with music from Jack's fiddle, singing by all hands, and wound up by a jig danced by Wild Bill which astonished and delighted us all.
As Wild Bill was mounting his horse to return to town, Tom took the precaution to chain the [Pg 37] dog, Found, to a wheel of the wagon, to prevent him from following his master. ”

“ He was a good borderman and understood Indian ways, and what to do in emergencies. The cowboy life makes one quick of thought, and it does not breed weaklings.
Buffalo Bill lay behind the screen of the mesquite, watching the young Cheyennes until they were out of sight. He saw that they were heading steadily toward the Southwest, and that they were hurrying.
Apparently they feared a pursuit of troopers from the fort; and for that reason, though they probably knew that Wild Bill was not the only white man out on those level grasslands, they feared to tarry or go after those others. ”

“ He wants you to ride out with me to meet him when I go next with some information that he needs."
"When will that be?" asked the lady.
"In the early morning, or perhaps to-night, if nothing happens to me between now and sunset to make it unnecessary!"
"Between now and sunset? That is within two hours. Do you anticipate any danger?"
"Not much. I have a little task before me. I have a horse to break, and a man known as Will Bill to tame."
"Wild Bill!–the dead-shot, the desperado, who has killed at least one man for every year of his life?" ”

“ The eyes, now that you are in friendly intercourse, are as gentle as a woman’s. In truth, the woman nature seems prominent throughout, and you would not believe that you were looking into eyes that have pointed the way to death to hundreds of men. Yes, Wild Bill with his own hands has killed hundreds of men. Of that I have not a doubt. “He shoots to kill,” as they say on the border.
In vain did I examine the scout’s face for some evidence of murderous propensity. ”

“ They were mostly men who had undergone all kinds of hardships and braved every danger, and they were ready and anxious to "tackle" any number of Indians. Wild Bill (who had been driving stage on the road and had recently come down to our division) was elected captain of the company.
It was supposed that the stolen stock had been taken to the head of Powder River and vicinity, and the party, of which I was a member, started out for that section in high hopes of success. ”

“ They’ll find it warm when they try to get at us here.”
“Aye, they will!” assented Wild Bill, as he looked to his rifle and revolvers, and poked into them new cartridges. “I’m opining there will be some dead men decorating that trail in a very few minutes, if those fellows come on.”
The men came on, with the dogs leading.
Then the dogs discovered the men and the girl in the hollow of the rocks, and they charged, baying savagely.
“Here’s for dead dog meat!” said Wild Bill, with a reckless laugh, as his revolver spouted its flame and lead, and the foremost dog pitched over, rolling down the hill. ”

“ Buffalo Bill lifted his revolver and fired it, for the purpose of summoning Wild Bill; and soon after he heard the clatter of Wild Bill’s pony—the pony that had been the property of Garland.
They soon came in sight round the end of the hill—Garland mounted in front and tied, and behind him, on the same pony, Wild Bill, with revolver ready.
[302]
There was never a more astonished man than Garland, when the pony had brought him under the bluffs, and he saw there his leader, helpless and choking in the grasp of Buffalo Bill.
Wild Bill slid from the back of the pony and ran to his pard’s aid. ”

“ A man, armed with rifle and pistols, stepped from the shadow of a tree, and Pond gasped out:
"A friend. A friend come to save all your lives. There are a hundred Indians within a mile of you, led by the desperado Persimmon Bill."
"Who are you?" was the stern inquiry.
"Wild Bill will know me. Take me to him, quick!" was the response.
"To our captain first. Come along!" said the sentinel.
The next moment Willie Pond was in the presence of Sam Chichester and Captain Jack, telling his story. ”

“ Again that roar of rage broke forth from the surging and excited mob. The whisky these men had swallowed in the Flash Light had helped to transform them into human wolves.
For a few moments after Wild Bill had thus tried to interfere they had held back. They were astonished by his boldness and they feared his deadly revolvers; but they did not intend to be balked of their feast of blood. They intended to have the life of Buffalo Bill ”