They were coming out on a shoulder of the mountain now, and could look down into the valley below them. There seemed to be something familiar about it. Both lads noted that at once.
"Isn't that where we were encamped?" asked Jed.
"It certainly looks like it," added Will.
"And there's a horse there, and a man who looks like Gabe!"
"It is Gabe!" cried Jed. "Hurrah! We're back at our old camp! Now let Morton and his gang come after us if they dare!"
The trail led downward, and the horses of the lads, finding going easier, or, perhaps, recognizing the place where they had strayed from, and desiring to get back to it, did not drop back into the slow pace that had characterized their gait before the shot was fired.
"Hello, Gabe!" yelled Jed, waving his hat at the old man.
Mr. Harrison looked up. He recognized Jed and Will. He swung his hat in answer and shouted a welcome.
At that moment the pursuers came in sight around the bend in the trail. They, too, saw the camp, and noted Gabe. But they also saw that he walked with a limp. Instead of turning back, as the boys expected the gamblers would, they kept on.
"Are you going up against Gabe?" asked Haverhill of Morton. "He's a good fighter."