"So this is the trick yer played on me, consarn ye!" cried Abe Blower, coming from the other miner to Haskers. "I've a good mind to take it out of yer hide!" And he shook his fist in the former teacher's face.
"Don't you touch me—don't you dare!" howled Job Haskers, in new alarm, and he backed away so hastily that he tripped over some of the camp outfit and went flat on his back.
The accident was such a comical one that Dave and his chums laughed outright, and Tom Dillon and Abe Blower grinned broadly. Link Merwell reached down and assisted the former teacher to his feet. Job Haskers's face was sourness itself.
"Stop that! Don't you dare to laugh at me!" he roared. "Don't you dare!"
"We'll laugh as much as we please," answered Dave, boldly.
"I—I guess we had better get out of here," whispered Link Merwell, nervously. "They—they might take it into their heads to harm us."
"Do you think so?" asked Job Haskers. "All right, I—I am ready to go. But how are we to find our way back to the town?" he asked, helplessly.
"We'll have to follow the back trail," answered Link Merwell. Being used to ranch life, this being in the open did not daunt him as it did the former teacher. "Come on, let us get our horses and be off!" the youth added. "It is getting too hot for us here!"