He looked at me with lenient, sidewise eyes, not turning his head, and then pursed his lips and gazed before him again at the door, where Slim's long back loomed against the storm-darkened sky.
"All this," said he, "is guesswork, of course; for the sheriff is reticent and so am I. But as for proving, I dare say Pete could get a crony or two together to swear they saw me. O! But let this drop," he broke out. "If there's anything that makes me sick now, it's building up fabrications. Let us look on the bright side. Gather together your belongings and thank Providence for sending us the convoy of the sheriff to see us safely back to civilisation with our loot."
"You 're a brave man," I said. But he did not seem to hear.
"What vexes me," said he, "is to think that Miss Pinkerton may have heard this yarn and placed credence in it."
The entrance of the sheriff, with a serious face, put an end to the conversation then.
"Well," said Apache Kid, "what do you think?"
"I think this is a derned peculiar mountain," said the sheriff, "and I reckon you boys had better pack your truck. That hole 's full."
"Water?" said Apache Kid.
"No," said the sheriff: "full of mountain. You can see the upward side of it jest sliding down bodily in the hole, props and all. They must ha' had some difeeculty in it, the way they had it wedged. You noticed?"
"Yes."