This was as good a thing as Mr. Ayres wanted, and when he was well rested, the Indians, true to their promise, led him to the wigwam of the culprit.
It may not have been a picture of peace and plenty which Seminole presented, but he certainly seemed to be quite contented, surrounded as he was by his squaw and papooses, who prattled about in the dirt, while he sat enjoying the bliss of a long-stemmed pipe. The surroundings were rude and coarse, but the half Indian appeared to be perfectly at home and at ease.
But the officer of the law can not stand back on account of any qualms of conscience or foolish sentiment when there are arrests to be made. His is not the part of preserving domestic felicity.
When broken in upon, the murderer did not show any signs of fear, and when introduced to Mr. Ayres as an officer from Colorado in search of him, he manifested no disposition to make resistance. It may be that he asked rather impetuously to know the charge against him, but Ayres' answer that it was that of horse stealing reassured him, and he submitted quietly, and walked out of his wigwam stolidly, though with apparent willingness.
The officer was led to believe that he had accomplished a big job with but little effort and was mentally congratulating himself accordingly. But all was not accomplished. There was much yet to be done. He felt that he had a wide and wild stretch of country to cover in getting home, and the idea of going through an Indian region alone, in charge of a half Indian, was not a cheerful one. Not by any means.
When Seminole was once out of his house the detective undertook to handcuff him. But the fellow had had time for a little self-introspection and meditation. The Hayward murder undoubtedly came into his mind, and he began to feel that, whatever the charge upon which he was to be brought back to Denver, he would be in danger of being discovered as the murderer, and he began to show fight at the sight of the handcuffs. He would not agree to have them put on, and when the officer attempted to force them on, struck at him. He was a strong man and able to get the best of the officer had he been unaided. But the Indian police came nobly to Ayres' rescue, and they laid Mr. Seminole low in very short order, and while he was prone upon the ground and kicking and scratching, the irons were adjusted. The scene was as wild a one in the interest of justice as ever fell to the lot of man to witness.