two did not tarry long in the canyon, for a dread of the weird spot
seemed to have come over them both.

Doctor Dick roamed about, picking up bits of rock and examining it
closely, while he muttered:

"It was a gold-mine that held them here, but that falling cliff has
hidden the secret forever."

And Buffalo Bill went about searching for trails, yet made no comment,
whether he found any or not, to indicate that the lone dwellers in the
canyon had not both perished in their cabin, and lay buried beneath the
hills of rock that had fallen from the heights above the valley.

But, as the two men rode away up the dangerous mountain-trail, there
were eyes peering upon them they little dreamed of, and Wallace Weston
muttered:

"They believe me dead now: so let it be."

CHAPTER IV.

A VOW OF VENGEANCE.

The night after leaving the Grand Canyon, Buffalo Bill and Doctor Dick
camped again at the rendezvous of the deserted camp, which was marked by
the grave of Black-heart Bill.

The two friends talked until a late hour into the night, though they
intended making an early start in the morning for their respective
homes, the scout going to the fort, the doctor to Last Chance.

"Well, Cody, you were satisfied before that Sergeant Wallace Weston was
dead, that he died in the desert, but you yielded to my belief that he
lived and was none other than the Hermit of the Grand Canyon who came to
your rescue some time ago; but now you are assured that, the
hermit-miner being buried beneath the walls of his cabin, there is no
doubt left that, if he really was Wallace Weston, he is surely not among
the living?"

"Yes, doctor, I can hardly bring myself to believe that Weston's body
was not the one we buried in the desert, yet I grant that, it was just
possible that it might not have been his."

"So you give up the search wholly?"

"Yes, I return to my duties at Fort Faraway."

"And I to my doctoring and gambling at Last Chance; but I thank you for
coming with me on this trip, as my mind is made up."

The doctor said no more then, but wrapped his blankets about him and lay
down to rest.

The next morning when the two were about to part Buffalo Bill said:

"I wish you would keep your eye upon the suspicious characters in the
mines, for I fear, with the temptations in their way to get hold of
treasure in the coaches, there may be more mischief done."

"I will keep a bright lookout, Cody, and at once send a courier to