“There was merry blazes to pay when Shoup found the money was gone out of his pocket. He accused me of taking it, and I admitted it. He threatened me, and even threw me down and went through my clothes to see if he couldn’t find it. Blunt made things so interesting for us that Shoup didn’t have any time to keep nagging at me. When we tried to get across the river to the horses, directly after that bowlder dropped from the cliff, Shoup found his chance to hand me a rap over the head. You saw him do it; and now I’ve explained why he had it in for me.
“Of course,” and Lenning’s glance wandered to Merriwell, “you fellows can take me to Ophir and put me in the lockup on a charge of highway robbery. The question is, are you going to do it? I’ve tried to do the right thing, and now it’s up to you either to let me go or hand me over to the law. Which is it to be?”
“Get his horse for him,” said Merriwell, “and let him go. He’s had a hard enough time of it, and the way Shoup treated him proves that his story is straight.”
Lenning, most unexpectedly, had done a good deed, and it was the saving grace of that act which led many of the boys to agree with Merriwell. The horse was led out of the bushes, and Lenning, with some difficulty, climbed into the saddle.
“Where are you going?” Merriwell asked.
“I don’t know,” was the answer, “and I’m not caring a whole lot.”
“Why don’t you buck up, Lenning, and try to be different?”
Lenning studied Merriwell for a moment with moody eyes.
“What’s the use?” he asked, at last. “I’m down and out. I’ve been a fool, but that doesn’t count any in my favor. When a fellow makes his bed, he’s got to lie in it.”
“If it doesn’t suit him he can get up and make it over.”