"Another hunderd was comin' ter him, same's to the rest o' us."
"How about Nick Porter?"
"Dunno how much he was ter git. He told Heppner about the perfesser an' the claim in the fust place, so I reckon he come higher. The perfesser is kinder weak in the headpiece. He'd b'leeve anythin'. Nick Porter tole me so when he was here last night."
"Oh!" said Merry. "So Porter was here, was he, when Clancy and I came looking for him?"
"Well, yes. I didn't say nothin' ter you about it, Merriwell, bec'us' I didn't dare. Porter would 'a' killed me, if I had."
"You're a skunk!" gritted Barzy Blunt.
"Where's Porter now?" demanded. Frank.
"He hiked out early this mornin'. Say, Barzy, I heerd ye wasn't no friend o' Merriwell's."
"I'm not," was the answer. "I made a bargain with him, and this is part of it."
"Where are the professor's goods and Turkeyfoot's wagon?" Merry questioned.