Oscar Gleeson, the Texan, was correct in his suspicion of the purpose of the Comanches in making Captain Shirril their prisoner; having secured possession of him, they intended to force a liberal on the part of his friends, as a condition of his restoration to liberty.  
The act was not only an audacious one on their part, but it will be perceived that the fulfilment of the terms was certain to be attended with the gravest difficulty. The cowboys were not to be trifled with, and, since it was that a point would be reached where one party must of necessity trust the pledges of the other, a violent collision with serious consequences appeared unavoidable.
 
It has been shown that it was not until he arrived close to the hills, among which the red men had fled with their captive, that there was any response to the signal he displayed almost from the first.
 
The moment he caught sight of the two , he stopped his mustang and awaited their approach. It was not singular that a man who had crossed the Indian Nation so frequently as this veteran, recognized the couple as Wygwind, the chieftain, and Richita, whom he had met more than once and knew to be two of the worst belonging to the American race.
 
With no evidence, however, of his identification, he lowered his flag of , and returning it to its place around his neck, secured it by tying the usual knot. Then with a half military he asked:
 
“Is the white man with you hurt bad?”
 
“Hurt not much,” replied Wygwind, who English far better than his comrade.
 
“Why did you take him away?”
 
The American Indian, as a rule, is of , but at this question the Comanche displayed an unmistakable grin which revealed his even white teeth.
 
 
“We sell him––he worth good much.”
 
“What price do you ask for him?” demanded Gleeson, coming to the point with undiplomatic .
 
The expectation of the Texan was that these ambassadors would demand a large number of cattle, probably five hundred, in exchange for their valuable captive. He hoped that such would prove the case, for he had already formed a scheme for paying off the in their own coin.
 
His intention was to transfer the cattle, managing the payment, however, with such care that all of faith on the part of the captain’s enemies would be . Then, after he was safe with his friends, and the property was placed in the hands of the Comanches, it would be necessary for the red men to hold them. The field would become an open one, and before they could turn their newly acquired property to account, they were likely to hear from the original .
 
But Wygwind was too shrewd to be ensnared in this style. He and his partners, in elaborating the scheme that had worked so well up to this point, had foreseen the very in the mind of the white man, who sat on his horse before the delegates.
 
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