as they drew near , he puzzled at their horses ' hides , decorated with pagan hieroglyphs depicting wolves , bear , coyote , elk , eagles , trees , cacti , mountains , clouds , the arc of rivers , and as the riders rounded another switchback , facing him now , he saw that the woman in front wore the painted face of a heathen , and the gold gown was drenched in blood , the original own er 's entire scalp having been stitched into the warrior 's tonsured head , the curly yellow hair still pinned up in the fashion of the day , and around that heathen 's waist hung a belt of sunburned noses and he appeared to be smiling , his bloodstained teeth filed down into razor points , and his horse 's mane interwoven with the hair of numerous scalps still warm , still dripping , and those behind him equally outlandish , one rider naked save for cape and bowler , another so caked with blood that he seemed to be rusting , one in nothing but a blue bonnet , one in a shredded corset beaded with eyes , and they bore weaponry of every design and from across the ages-shotgun , rifle , revolver , knife , lance , bow , sword-some holding rocks still smeared with blood and brain , others wielding sharpened human femurs , one gripping a crude mace constructed of oak and leather and shards of quartz , and this parade of demons cackled and groaned , conversing in a strange , unholy tongue that sounded like some ancient form of necromancy .