and join him, or make out I don’t understand, because I want to take another view of the house?”
Then Billie remembered his promise to Adrian.
“I did say I’d watch out for Uncle Fred, sure enough; and he acts like he needed a nurse, or something like that, right now. Guess I’ll wander around that way; I can make out to be looking for another view of the place, if anybody is ataking the trouble to watch me.”
This he did, and presently joined the late manager of the ranch. Mr. Comstock was still crouching behind that pile of wood. Every now and then he thrust out his head and seemed disposed to start toward the house; but something always caused him to weaken, for he would draw back, shaking his head as if to say: “I can’t seem to do it, and that’s flat!”
“What’s the matter, sir?” asked Billie, when he had come up.
“Would you mind doing me a little favor, Billie?” asked the other, with a smile that was intended to be very winning.
“Of course I would, if it wasn’t beyond me,” replied the fat boy; “Adrian told me to help you if you needed anything done.”
“Why, you see, here’s the way things stand,” the late manager commenced to say. “When I heard all the racket, and somebody shouted that the stolen herd was coming back, I was that excited I ran out of the house without taking the trouble to pick up
my belt, that carries my gun. It lies in there where you see that open window close to the ground. All you need do is to crawl through, reach it out to me, and then skip again. Get that straight, do you, Billie?”
“Y-yes, sir,” Billie said, slowly enough, for somehow he did not particularly fancy the adventure, since there was a pretty good chance that he would run across the good woman of the house while entering like a burglar; and he shivered when he had a mental picture of how she would pounce upon him.