Sherlock Holmes In America (23 page)

“And no one else overheard the conversation?” said Holmes.

“No one. The nearby tents were deserted, and it's a wonder that Butler happened to hear, considering the noise of the camp. Can you help me, Mr. Holmes, or do I need to go to somebody else?”

“Butler overheard nothing more?”

“Only nonsense. He could tell you himself if you'd come for a visit to my campgrounds.”

“Very well,” said Holmes. “Come, Watson, let us see what we can do to assist our American friend.”

Colonel Cody expressed his thanks and settled his hat on his head. Holmes and I readied ourselves and went with him to the site of the great Columbian Exposition.

We went first to the Indian village on the Midway, as it was nearer the hotel. The site was across the way from the Lapland village, which had a board building covered with sod as well as a tent. Next to it stood the International Dress and Costume exhibit, which promised “Forty Ladies from Forty Nations, a World's Congress of Beauties.” I was quite eager to have a look inside the building, but Holmes, of course was not interested.

“We did not come here to gawk, Watson,” he said.

Further down the Midway was the immense Ferris wheel, towering 250 feet above the ground. I was thoroughly interested in that, as well, but Holmes had eyes only for the Indian village.

First, he inspected the sign that announced the war dancing. He said, “Make a note of the time, Watson.” I did, and we entered the area and found the cabin easily. The outside walls were pocked with bullet holes and what I took to be splashes of blood, possibly a result of Sitting Bull's final moments.

An Indian stood near the entrance. He was clothed in full buckskin regalia and wore long braids and a feather in his hair. Cody spoke to him, the man moved aside, and we entered. As we did, another went quickly out the back door. He wore a loose shirt with crimson bands at the cuffs, elbows, and shoulders. A wide crimson “V” adorned the neck. Cody came in behind us and did not see him, but Holmes stood silently for a moment, looking toward the doorway.

The moment passed, and Holmes, as was his custom, examined the entire edifice with great care. I had no idea what he might have been looking for, as, knowing nothing of such a cabin, I saw nothing out of place. The place smelled of the smoke of many winter fires. The odor had infused the very wood of the walls, along with the smell of tobacco.

When Holmes had finished his inspection, he pronounced himself ready to speak to Butler, and Cody led us down the Midway, past innumerable wonders, though none was so grand as the Ferris wheel. We had a walk of several blocks beside the tracks of the Illinois Central Rail Line before reaching a crossing street, and then another long walk past the tents of Cody's show and livestock before reaching the campgrounds, which were located between the Illinois Central and the Exposition itself. Farther to the east was the vast inland sea called Lake Michigan, and a breeze from the lake cooled the air.

The campgrounds swarmed with men and women striding about in the colorful garb of all the nations represented by the Congress of Rough Riders, and of course American Indians and cowboys of all stripes. They seemed to have no purpose in mind, but Cody assured us that all had definite assignments. The air was thick with the smell of livestock.

“We had best talk to Mr. Butler as soon as possible,” Holmes said.

“Before I left to find you, I asked him to stay in his tent,” Cody said, and he led us through the crowds.

As we walked, I heard a veritable babble of languages spoken around us. I wondered if Butler had detected a distinct accent, and I was certain that would be among the first things Holmes questioned him about.

The tent to which we were led was somewhat larger and grander than most, if grand is a term that may be applied to tents. The flap was pulled back, and we went inside.

What I saw was quite different from the interior of Sitting Bull's cabin. The tent was furnished as well as the hotel room Holmes and I had engaged. Standing near a sofa was a tall man wearing a black coat. He had black hair and a black moustache, and he greeted Cody with a smile.

“Are these the gents you told me about?” he said, appraising us frankly.

“The very ones,” Cody said, and performed the introductions. When those were done, Butler and Holmes sat on the sofa, while Cody and I took chairs nearby. I had hoped to see Little Sure Shot, but she was not in evidence.

“Annie's in the main tent,” Butler said with a smile, as if he sensed my disappointment. “She's always practicing.”

As usual, Holmes did not care for unnecessary information. He said, “Please tell us of the conversation you overheard, Mr. Butler. Word for word, if that is possible.”

Butler explained that he'd been in his tent and heard the men talking outside. He couldn't hear the words distinctly, and, as Cody had said, the men were gone by the time he'd reached the spot where they had been.

“I heard one of 'em say they'd burn Sitting Bull's cabin,” Butler told us, “but nothing else very clear. I can't give you a word-for-word reckoning.”

“You heard nothing else?” Holmes said.

“I did hear a thing or two, but nothing that made any sense.”

“Tell me, nevertheless,” Holmes said.

“There was noise outside the front of the tent, and the wall's not as thin as it looks. At first, I heard something about a blustering wind and waving air. I wasn't really listening, and I don't hear too well, anyway, thanks to too many years of firing rifles off next to my ear. What they said didn't make a bit of sense, so I must've misunderstood. I perked up, though, when I heard the part about burning Sitting Bull's cabin.”

Holmes looked thoughtful, though what he might have made of the weather report as delivered by Butler, I had no idea.

“Outside we saw people from all around the globe,” Holmes said. “Many of them must speak only limited English. Did the men you heard speak it as if it were their native tongue?”

Butler considered it a moment before he spoke. “They spoke English, but they didn't speak it as good as you and me.”

Holmes raised an eyebrow but made no comment. I, too, kept my peace.

“We have too many people to consider,” Cody said, “and no way to winnow them down. It seems like too big a job.”

“You don't know of anybody who has it in for you?” Butler said. “Somebody in the show, I mean.”

“No,” Cody said, with the assurance of a man who believes he is beloved by all. “There's nobody like that, which is why I don't understand this even a little bit. Why would anyone who works for me want to harm the show? It's like a family.”

I had been associated with Holmes long enough to know that there was always someone who wished harm on others even in the coziest of circles, but I did not see fit to mention that at the moment.

Holmes said, “Nevertheless, a problem exists, and I believe it to be more serious than I had first thought. Colonel Cody, do you have a list of your employees for payroll purposes?”

“Yes, but it's so long that you could never go over it all, not in time to stop anybody who plans to do something anytime soon.”

“Still, I would like to see the list.”

“All right, then,” Cody said. “Come with me.”

We thanked Butler for his help and followed Cody to another tent where a bookkeeper bent over his desk. Cody explained what Holmes wanted, and the bookkeeper provided the list. Holmes scanned it rapidly, as if he knew what he was looking for, as no doubt he did, though I had no idea.

“As I thought,” Holmes said, handing the list back to the bookkeeper. He turned to Cody. “Kicking Bear and Short Bull are in your employ.”

“They sure are,” Cody said, surprised that Holmes knew the names. “They're two of the ones a lot of people would like to see confined to the reservation. I don't think they'd be the cause of any trouble, since they know what would happen if they were caught.”

“There is another name,” Holmes said. “Jack Wilson.”

“I don't know him,” Cody said after a pause. “I have so many cowboys that I can't learn all their names.”

“Jack Wilson is the English name taken by Wovoka,” said Holmes.

“Good Lord!” said Cody.

“Wovoka?” I cried in surprise. “The Indian messiah who started the Ghost Dance?”

Holmes had told me about it once: In a vision, Wovoka, who now called himself Jack Wilson, had come to believe the dance would lead to a new earth, covered with fresh soil that buried the white men. Meanwhile, the Indians would hang suspended in the air until green grass and trees grew upon the soil; and when the rivers ran afresh, and the buffalo again roamed the plains, they would be returned to the land along with the ghosts of their ancestors. It may have been an appealing dream, but while many Indians had adopted the new religion and danced the dance, it was to no avail. The Exposition was ample testimony to the triumph of the white man's way of life.

“Yes,” said Holmes, “and Kicking Bear and Short Bull were with Sitting Bull when he was killed as a result of his involvement with the Ghost Dancers.”

“Sitting Bull was my friend,” Cody said. “He wasn't really involved in the Ghost Dance movement. His death when the soldiers came to arrest him was a sad mistake, no more than an accident.”

“That may be, but it seems more than a coincidence to find Kicking Bear and Short Bull in your employ, and Wovoka on the grounds as well.”

“It could be a coincidence,” protested Cody. “Even if not, what does this have to do with the Ghost Dance?”

“You are connected by having taken the first scalp for Custer.”

“The killing of Yellow Hand . . . ” Cody murmured.

I began to understand. The killing of Yellow Hand was well known to all who had seen Cody's Wild West show, and it had been of particular interest to Holmes. I had always felt that the reenactment was what stimulated Holmes to read so much about the American West. The event had been a highlight of Cody's career, and supposedly the turning of the tide against the Indians in the conquest of the American frontier.

“Custer,” said Holmes. “Not bluster. Butler misheard. And you waved Yellow Hair's scalp in the air.”

“So the conversation Butler recalled had not been about the weather after all,” I said.

“Of course not,” said Holmes. “I realized as much at once.” He turned to Cody. “You still reenact Yellow Hand's death in your show, do you not?”

Cody acknowledged that he did.

“And the time of the ‘war dance'?” Holmes asked me.

When I told him, he nodded. “That would be about the time the scalping scene would be performed in the Wild West Show. I am sure that is when they plan to burn the cabin.”

“But why?” I asked Holmes.

“Not as revenge for Custer's death, but for Sitting Bull's,” said Holmes. “They must see the chain of events beginning with Yellow Hand's death as leading inevitably to the failure of the Ghost Dance and the death of Sitting Bull.”

“Do you suppose that they will perform the Ghost Dance at the cabin?”

“I do,” said Holmes. “Do you remember the man who left the cabin as we entered, Watson?”

“Yes,” I said.

“He wore a Ghost Shirt,” Holmes said, “which is supposed to make one impervious to bullets. I suspect he will be involved in the dance today.”

“Good Lord,” Cody said. “We must stop them! They will discredit me and all the Indians who work for me if we do not.”

“Watson and I will do our best,” said Holmes.

I hoped that he had some plan to do so, as I could see no way the two of us could prevent the destruction. I feared a panic that would panic fair-goers and cause a stampede like that of the buffalo the Indians wanted to recall.

“You'll need help,” Cody said.

“You must carry on with your show so that they suspect nothing,” Holmes told him.

“This is Wovoka's work!” said Cody. “If the others are party to it, it's because of him.”

“They may not be involved,” said Holmes, “but we must waste no more time. Come, Watson, let us take up our station.”

I did not know what or where our station was, yet I followed Holmes as always. As we hurried along and passed the big show tent, I found myself wishing I had brought my pistol, but I had left it behind in Baker Street. We were, I thought ruefully, a long way from home. I should have borrowed one of Cody's sidearms, but it was too late for that now. Holmes set a rapid pace, and I was hard pressed to keep up with him.

Between breaths, I asked Holmes what the Ghost Dancers expected to achieve, and how we might stop them.

“I believe they seek revenge on Cody for his imagined part in the events leading to Sitting Bull's death and the later slaughter at Wounded Knee.”

Holmes's knowledge of the West's history far surpassed mine. I knew little of the latter event other than that after Sitting Bull was killed, a number of their tribesmen, including women and children, had been killed in a fight with the U.S. Cavalry at Wounded Knee, in the Dakotas three years ago.