"Oh, listen!" suddenly exclaimed Conrad, "I hear voices, and they are men talking, too, strangers. What can it mean, father?"
The man on the stretcher winced painfully, and then smiled grimly.
"Well, things generally come with a rush, Conrad," he said. "There are some men that have been wanting to interview me for a long time now. I reckon they've found the nerve to come away up here, just to see what's going on. But they've got to have proof in order to convict a man of poaching game out of season. Anyhow, I'm in no condition to resist now; and I don't believe they'll stir up any evidence around the cabin. Woods mutton is scarce these days."
It was Rufus who now uttered a cry.
"There, I can see several men now in front of a cabin," he went on to say, "and oh! as sure as you live, one of them is my own father! Do you hear that, Jem Shock, the Snodgrass you've been believing cheated you in a land deal has come straight up here to see you just as soon as he got that letter of yours. Does that look like guilt, tell me? Oh! something is going to happen, and before long you'll be changing your mind about the Snodgrass tribe!"
Quickening their pace, the little procession hastened to reach the cabin, where several men stood watching their coming, with both wonder and interest showing on their faces. The good wife ran out to meet them, and was soon crying copiously over the figure on the stretcher, though Jem told her it was all right, and not to worry.
CHAPTER XVI
"ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL!"