The others eagerly crowded forward, intending to miss not one word. From the man’s appearance and the appearance of his horse something important had happened.
“The two fellows who robbed the bank the other day broke outa jail last night and got clean away!” the rider said, mopping his face with a handkerchief. “I been out for hours with the Sheriff and his posse lookin’ for the trail. Didn’t come this way, did they?”
Mr. Wilson shook his head. “If they did, Bert, we didn’t see ’em. Come in and have some breakfast?”
“Shore will,” the man replied gratefully. “A fella gets all fired hungry ridin’ around.”
“Didn’t the thieves leave any trail at all?” Tom asked when the man had joined them and they were all seated once more about the table.
“Wal, son,” the rider said, “we figger they separated, one goin’ north and the other south. Leastways, they were seen apart. Hank Cordy saw one tryin’ to swim the creek. He chased him but the fella got away. That was the short, dark haired one. The tall one was seen ridin’ out this way.”
“If he passed the K Bar O none of us saw him,” Mr. Wilson declared.
“Wal,” the man sighed as he pushed his chair away from the table and the rest followed him into the ranch living room, “that was shore the most appetizin’ meal I ever ate. Reckon now I’ve got to be gettin’ along.”
“We’ll let you know if we see anything of the robbers,” Tom called after him.
Madge and Phyllis declared their intention of writing letters while Carol and Janet rode with Tom and Virginia out to the valley where the largest of the K Bar O’s herds was grazing. Valerie was not looking so well this morning and the other girls had coaxed her to lie down for a while. It would be a tragedy if she were not well enough for them to go on the proposed camping trip the next day.