Free Buffalo Bill Wanted! by Alex Simmons Page A

proud and strong,” the chief replied. “He has been this way ever since he was a boy.”
    â€œHe’s not very friendly,” Dooley said nervously.
    â€œWhen he was a boy,” Tall-Like-Oak explained, “he saw his home destroyed. He saw his family forced to move onto a reservation. There was sickness and hunger. He spoke out against these things and was beaten. He fought back and was locked up in a jail.”
    â€œCor,” Dooley gasped. “We’ve always heard that you Indians attack—” Dooley stopped short as he met the Indian’s steady gaze.
    â€œThere is more to our story than your people will ever know,” Tall-Like-Oak replied.
    â€œPlease tell us more about Silent Eagle,” Owens said.
    â€œHe has always listened to the wisest of our people to understand our ways. Now he travels with Pahaska to learn more of the world of the white men.”
    Tall-Like-Oak stepped outside the tent, and the two boys followed him. “Silent Eagle fights only when he has to,” the chief told them. “He sees much but speaks only when there is something he must say. That is how he was named. He is a Sioux warrior and would not attack an unarmed man.”
    â€œIt sure doesn’t sound like he would,” Owens said. “But somebody took a gun to the constable and then scalped him. Do you have any idea who?”
    Tall-Like-Oak shook his head. “I have seen that blue-coat soldier guarding the way into the camp,” he told the boys. “He showed great bravery facing the buffalo with Silent Eagle.”
    Both Owens and Dooley froze as the importance of Tall-Like-Oak’s words became clear in their minds.
    â€œYou mean the copper, I mean constable, who was attacked was the same one who helped stop the buffalo the other day?” Dooley asked the Indian chief.
    Tall-Like-Oak nodded.
    Owens knew that he and Dooley were thinking the same thing. Maybe the Indian was guilty after all. The constable was the same one who had teased the Indian the day the buffalo escaped. Everyone there had seen Silent Eagle’s anger at the bantering. This gave the police a motive for the attack.
    They’d have the one thing they needed to prove his guilt—and get him hanged.

Chapter 9
    THEY HAD TO WAIT A LITTLE BIT TO GET INTO THE Wild West show site, but Wiggins and Jennie finally caught up with Owens and Dooley. Wiggins decided to spend some of the money Buffalo Bill gave them on train tickets back to Mile End Road. There was so much to talk about, he barely noticed the disapproving glances from the other passengers. Poor lads and lasses from the East End didn’t normally ride London’s Underground trains.
    The discussion continued in their familiar meeting place in the back room of the Raven Pub.
    â€œAll right, what do we know?” Wiggins sighed, plopping down onto a stool. “The coppers can build a case against Silent Eagle. Constable Turnbuckle made a remark that Silent Eagle took the wrong way. So Silent Eagle beat him and scalped him. After J. Montague Pryke started making noise in Parliament and in the newspapers, Silent Eagle went after him too.”
    Dooley’s eyes were wide with dismay. Owens gave a stiff nod, but Jennie shook her head. “How did Silent Eagle learn that it was Pryke he should go after?”
    â€œExactly,” Wiggins agreed. “I don’t imagine those Indians sitting down with the morning newspaper.”
    â€œSomeone could have mentioned the story to them,” Owens pointed out.
    â€œOr read it to them,” Jennie added.
    â€œThat’s true,” Dooley agreed.
    â€œThen there’s the big clue that led the police to Silent Eagle,” Wiggins continued. “The porcupine quill with purple beads. That came from his costume in the show. But I can’t imagine him wearing it while he attacked Pryke.”
    â€œNo.” Jennie frowned. “You’re right. At first