“What!”
Darwood snapped the word out like the crack of a whip.
“I saw your smoke signs. At least I suppose they were yours. This morning I started out, as I frequently do, in search of game. I smelled your smoke and out of curiosity hunted you up to see who our neighbors were. That’s all there is to it. If you can get anything out of that you are welcome to it. I wish you luck in finding Taku Pass. If I should stumble on it, I’ll look you up and let you know. We aren’t looking for gold mines especially. ’Bye.”
“Well, what d’ye think of that?” grinned the Pickle after Tad had left them.
“I think somebody will get hurt if they don’t leave us alone,” growled Darwood, caressing 181the butt of his revolver. “I’m getting tired of this kind of nagging.”
“That outfit isn’t nagging you,” answered Bruce.
“How do you know?”
“They are nothing but boys. At least one of them is the right sort. Spotted Face did us a favor. He isn’t a crook.”
“I haven’t said he was. But you don’t know who is in their outfit now. Besides, there isn’t one chance in a thousand that they’d be so close on our trail unless they had followed us on purpose. No, this business must be stopped. We may be on the right track, and if we are we must protect ourselves, and we’ll do it, even though we have to kill a few curious hounds who are following the trail. The boy business may be merely a mask for the operations of some other persons.”
“Why don’t you find out, then?”