umber. Will noticed that
the game was pointed toward a creek, and understanding "the nature of
the beast," started for the water, to head them off.

As the herd went past him, with the military quintet five hundred yards
in the rear, he gave Brigham's blind bridle a twitch, and in a few jumps
the trained hunter was at the side of the rear buffalo; Lucretia Borgia
spoke, and the buffalo fell dead. Without even a bridle signal, Brigham
was promptly at the side of the next buffalo, not ten feet away, and
this, too, fell at the first shot. The maneuver was repeated until the
last buffalo went down. Twelve shots had been fired; then Brigham, who
never wasted his strength, stopped. The officers had not had even a shot
at the game. Astonishment was written on their faces as they rode up.

"Gentlemen," said Will, courteously, as he dismounted, "allow me to
present you with eleven tongues and as much of the tenderloin as you
wish."

"By Jove!" exclaimed the captain, "I never saw anything like that
before. Who are you, anyway?"

"Bill Cody's my name."

"Well, Bill Cody, you know how to kill buffalo, and that horse of yours
has some good running points, after all."

"One or two," smiled Will.

Captain Graham--as his name proved to be--and his companions were
a trifle sore over missing even the opportunity of a shot, but they
professed to be more than repaid for their disappointment by witnessing
a feat they had not supposed possible in a white man--hunting buffalo
without a saddle, bridle, or reins. Will explained that Brigham knew
more about the business than most two-legged hunters. All the rider
was expected to do was to shoot the buffalo. If the first shot failed,
Brigham allowed another; if this, too, failed, Brigham lost patience,
and was as likely as not to drop the matter then and there.

It was this episode that fastened the name of "Buffalo Bill" upon Will,
and learning of it, the friends of Billy Comstock, chief of scouts at
Fort Wallace, filed a protest. Comstock, they said, was Cody's superior
as a buffalo hunter. So a match was arranged to determine whether it
should be "Buffalo Bill" Cody or "Buffalo Bill" Comstock.

The hunting-ground was fixed near Sheridan, Kansas, and quite a crowd of
spectators was attracted by the news of the contest. Officers, soldiers,
plainsmen, and railroadmen took a day off to see the sport, and one
excursion party, including many ladies, among them Louise, came up from
St. Lou