'Ay. I have seen him, and I guess pretty near every one in camp has.'
'Where is he?'
'You will find him up in that wood there, close to that big pine, and it ain't a pleasant sight to look at, I can tell you.'
'Is he dead?'
'I should say so; about as dead as he ever will be.'
Bluff Harry returned to his friends, and they went up in a party to the wood. Hardy as they were, their faces whitened as they looked at the swinging body and read the paper.
Not a word was spoken for a minute or two; then Mason, the gambler, said—
'We had best bury him at once, boys; we can talk it over afterwards.'
Two of the men went down and borrowed picks and shovels. In half-an-hour they returned to their tents, having finished their task. The meal was prepared in silence. When they sat down, Mason said—
'Well, boys, I don't know how you take it, but it seems to me that this is not a healthy place to stop in. We cannot always keep together and always be on our guard, and they may pick us up one after the other. I thought when you were talking yesterday about Judge Lynch that you were away from the mark. He has been to two or three camps where I have been, and it ain't no manner of good bucking against him. My opinion is, the sooner we git the better.'