Thad tightened his grip upon his chum, for he felt him quivering violently. It was a tremendous shock, since, for more than two years now, Bob and his mother had been forced to believe the one they loved so dearly must be dead; but they say that joy never kills, and presently Bob was able to command his voice again.
"Oh! you'll never know what that means to me, Polly!" he exclaimed, as he groped around until he had found the girl's hand, which doubtless he pressed warmly in his great gratitude. "To think that my poor father has been alive all this time, and a slave up here in the wild mountains, while mother and I have been enjoying all the comforts and luxuries of our home. It just seems to cut me to the heart. But Polly, you talked with him, didn't you?"
"Shore I did. He done tole me he mout a got free a long time ago, if he'd 'greed ter promise my dad never ter tell whar ther ole Still war hid; an' never ter kim inter ther mountings agin ahuntin' moonshine stuff. But he sez as how, sense he still must be in ther employ o' ther Gov'nment, he's bound ter do his duty; an' not in er thousand years wud he change his mind."
"Oh! that is jest like father," murmured the boy, partly in admiration, yet with a touch of genuine grief in his voice, because of the unnecessary suffering they had all endured on account of this stubborn trait on the part of the one-time marshal.
"I tells him thet all ther same, he wa'n't agwine ter stay thar much longer, it didn't matter whether he guv ther promise er not, 'case thar hed be'n a change. An' then I ups an' tells him 'bout yer bein' hyar in ther mountings, bound ter larn ef he was erlive."
"Yes, and was he pleased when he heard that, Polly?" asked Bob, who was gradually coming around in fine shape, now that the stupendous disclosure had been accomplished, and his anxiety a thing of the past.
"I shud say he war," replied the girl, a little aroused now. "Say, he done cry, thet's what. Reckons as how he mout a be'n sorry fur not promisin' like they wanted long ergo. He arsks as how yer looked, an' ef yer mam war still well. Caus I cudn't tell him a heap, 'cause I didn't know; but I sez ter him thet yer hed kim hyar ter fotch 'im home, an' it'd be a shame ef yer hed ter go back erlone, jest 'cause he wanted ter be ugly. So he says as how he'd be'n athinkin', an' mout change his mind 'bout thet thar promise."
"Oh! to think of it, Thad," Bob breathed, gripping the arm of his staunch chum eagerly; "my father is alive after all these terrible months; and perhaps he'll even go home with me. It's worth all I've suffered ten times, yes a thousand times over."
"You deserve all the happiness there can be going, Bob, sure you do," declared the scoutmaster, positively. "I guess nothing could be too good for you. But we don't just understand yet how this is going to be brought about. Will Phin Dady let him go free if he makes that promise, Polly?"
"Shore, he's jest got ter, now," the girl answered, with a little chuckle. "Yer see, like I sez afore, things, have changed a heap now, an' my dad, he hain't a feelin' thet sore agin ther marshal like he used ter. An' Bob Quail, even ef he warn't gwine ter do hit, arter wat I larned this same night, I tells yer I'd set yer dad free on my own 'count."