Jack looked at each of his hands in turn and laughed.
"Do you know I had forgotten all about that? I don't remember having thrown it aside."
"I saw you do it, and it was a lucky thing you did."
The two walked beside the canyon until they came to a straight place, where Jack easily made the leap and joined his friend. Then they set out to recover the Winchester, which, as matters stood, was almost beyond value to them.
"I can't recall the spot where I dropped it," remarked Jack, allowing his companion to take the lead.
"I do; you and I were doing such tall running then, and for some minutes afterward, that we covered more ground than would be supposed. That's the spot, just ahead."
He indicated an open space, thirty or forty feet in width, lying between a ridge of boulders, over which it was astonishing how the fugitive had managed to make such good progress.
"We shall find it right there——"
Fred checked his words, for at that moment they came upon the spot he had in mind and both swept their gaze over it. Their dismay may be imagined when they saw nothing of the Winchester.
"You must be mistaken as to the place," said Jack.