“Yes; I think I see us leaving you!” Dick scoffed. “You’re going to get up and climb on old Fishbait’s back. We can’t be far from Natrolia now, and he’ll carry you all right.”
Purdick sat up and his pale cheeks flushed suddenly.
“What do you take me for?” he snapped, but there was something suspiciously like a sob at the end of the snap. “I told you both before we came west that I was no good, and now I’m proving it. It—it just kills me to think that I can’t stand up and take things like other fellows—like you two do!” And with that, he whirled over and buried his face in the grass.
Larry drew Dick aside and spoke in low tones.
“It’s up to us,” he said. “He won’t ride, and I doubt if he could stick on the burro’s back if he tried. Stay here with him while I scout up to the top of that knob over there and see if I can find out where we are.”
Left alone with Purdick, Dick sat down and waited. For a long five minutes Purdick lay on his face and made no sign, but at last he turned over and raised himself on an elbow.
“Where’s Larry?” he asked.
Dick pointed. “There he is—climbing to the top of that hill for a look-see. Feeling any better?”
Purdick sat up and locked his fingers around his knees.
“I’m so mad I can’t see straight, Dick. It’s fierce to be tied down to a no-account body like mine. I’m not worth the powder it would take to blow me up!”