"He did, eh?"
"Yes."
"I thought so. Still, he might have shot you up just the same, even if he had known you hadn't anything to do with us."
"Where is the rest of your party, Mr. Withem?" asked Tad.
"They're out on the trail," was the somewhat evasive answer. "I'll get in touch with them sometime to-night or to-morrow."
"But you will take Tucker with you, will you not?" asked Ned.
"I reckon I will," laughed the Ranger.
"Shall we take him along for you? You have no horse?" asked Tad.
"My nag isn't far from here," smiled the lieutenant. "I'll load him on like a sack of meal. He'll get a good shaking up, but it won't hurt Dunk. He's too tough to be bothered by a little thing like that. We'll land him in the calaboose in El Paso by the day after to-morrow. Where are you folks going?"
"We planned to do the Guadalupes, then go on down to the Rio Grande," answered Professor Zepplin.