“Want to set a guard?”
“Oh, all the fellows are too tired to stand guard,” was the bully’s reply, and then he passed into one tent and Coulter into another.
With keen interest Jack and Pepper had listened to every word of the conversation. The young major could scarcely control himself, and his chum had to hold him back.
“The rascal!” cried Jack. “I always suspected him of having drugged me, and now I have the proof. I ought to hammer him well!”
“Wait—don’t let him see you here,” pleaded Pepper, and pulled his chum back of some bushes.
“But, Pep, that villain——”
“Yes, yes, I know. You’d like to pound the life out of him, and so would I. But we can do no more—we can expose him to Captain Putnam.”
“Certainly. But let me pound him first.”
“Not yet, Jack. Remember, we are two to two, and Ritter and Coulter can deny anything we say. We had better go slow, and fix it so that, when the time comes for an exposure, Ritter can’t worm out of it.”
As angry as he was, the young major saw the wisdom of this, and he allowed Pepper to draw him away from the vicinity of the tents. Both rejoined Dale and the others, who were behind some bushes close to where the horse was tied.