“Second the motion; all in favor say ay—motion carried unanimously, so come on, fellows, let’s back track to the ponies,” Billie went on to say, hurriedly before Donald had half a chance to get a word in.
“All right, let’s see if you can lead us there, Billie,” suggested Adrian. “You’ve been showing some pretty clever stunts lately; and keeping track of things as you go, in case you want to return the same way, is part of the education of a true plainsman, you know.”
Billie looked dismayed. The fact of the matter was that while they were on the way to this place he had been so busily engaged in keeping a bright lookout for signs of the dreadful medicine man, that he had paid little or no attention to the surroundings.
Still, that was no reason he should expose his ignorance to his chums, who, as Adrian had just said, were coming to have a good opinion of his abilities.
“Oh! all right, just as you say about it, boys!” he declared, cheerily; “but I’m hardly myself after my late terrible experience; and it might save time and bother if one of you took charge of the return trip. Not but that I’m able to do the thing, if it
seemed really necessary—you understand that, of course.”
Neither of his comrades made any remark, though able to read between the lines, and judge for themselves just how capable Billie might prove.
“Looks quite different in here to what it was out on the sand desert, don’t it, boys?” Adrian remarked, after they had started away from the cliff.
“I should say it did,” replied Billie, “with the trees around, and these bushes too. Ain’t that a hazel bush, Donald, and this one, say, didn’t you call it a rattlesnake weed once, when we were on the ranch?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t get the name from being eaten by the crawlers, Billie. And here’s another bush you ought to know,” Donald told him.