"Hardly." The man gave a short laugh. "I am not used to such hard work. Are you at it?"
"Yes."
"Here?"
"No, over to White Rock Gulch."
"Alone or with your step-father?"
"I am with three friends."
"Then your step-father didn't come out?"
"Not that I know of. I haven't heard from him for some time."
"I'll wager a dollar you ran away from home," said Morgan Fitzsimmons, with a smile that Mark did not admire—it was so full of sarcastic cunning.
"Maybe you know that I did run away," said the boy, boldly.