“That was the right move, though, if Lenning really wanted help from Merry. Lenning was wise to that.”
“I guess he’s wise to a lot of things that Merry will never know anything about. Hang it all! I wish Shoup had taken Lenning out of the country with him. They’re a fine pair, those two, and one isn’t much better than the other.”
As the lads strolled on they kept an expectant watch ahead. At any moment they believed Merriwell might show up in the trail, traveling townward. But they did not see him. The stamps were rumbling in the distance, and as the noise grew in volume, Ballard halted with a shiver.
“There’s something about that moaning of the stamp mill, at the dead of night like this,” he remarked, “that gives me the creeps.”
“Don’t get scared, little Bright Eyes,” murmured Clancy soothingly. “Remember, I’m along.”
“Oh, you go to blazes!” grunted Ballard. “If it was a case of spooks, Red, you’re the last fellow I’d want for company. Now——”
Ballard had started on again. Then, suddenly biting his words short, he halted once more.
“What’s the trouble, Pink?” inquired Clancy. “See anything in the bushes?”
“No, I don’t see anything,” returned Ballard, “but my ears are pretty good, and I’m hearing something.”
“What?”