“José, you beast!” the girl called out, and fell back, fainting.
There was the sound of a revolver shot and José reeled backwards and fell with a cry across the sanded floor. Jim thrust his smoking gun into his belt and caught Craig by the arm.
“Say, we’d better get out of this, cookie!” he muttered.
They were hustled out. Apparently José was unpopular, for every one seemed only anxious to have them clear away.
“I’ll get you into the camp quietly,” Long Jim muttered. “You’ll be safer there for the night. Then you can make that eighty-thirty in the morning.”
Lenora, with her bed dragged to the opening of the tent, eagerly greeted the little party on their return. Quest at once came and sat by her side.
“Where’s Laura,” he asked, “and the Inspector?”
She smiled and pointed to the rising ground behind them. In the faint moonlight two forms were just visible.
“The Inspector isn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer,” Lenora remarked cheerfully, “and honestly, if you ask me, I believe that Laura is weakening a little. She pretended she didn’t want to go out for a walk, and mumbled something about leaving me, but she soon changed her mind when the Inspector pressed her. They have been up there for an hour or more.”