“And say, you don’t know how near death you were a few minutes ago,” Chuck said. “Slim had you lined between his sights and was all set to let you have it. Then he decided he couldn’t kill a man in cold blood.”
“So he just whistled and had Lightning dynamite me right out of the saddle,” chuckled Old Bill. “Maybe the shooting wouldn’t have been so bad after all.” He rubbed his bruised body with exploring fingers. “Danged wonder every bone in my body wasn’t broken.”
“You take your falls hard,” admitted Chuck.
“I want to know where you found Lightning,” said Slim.
“The bushwhackers rode past my camp this afternoon and I recognized Lightning in a minute. I knew you would be riding Lightning on a trip like this and I didn’t waste time nor lead. They were leading Lightning and when I started shooting, she broke away. After what you did to them last night, those fellows didn’t have much stomach for another fight and they took out full gallop for the Creeping Shadows valley. It wasn’t much trouble to round up Lightning for she seemed to remember me a bit from my visits to the Flying Arrow. But boy, when you whistled she forgot all about me. I never saw a horse go up so quick or come down so hard. Don’t ever do that again to me.”
“I never will,” promised Slim, “but it’s a good trick to keep in the bag. If I’d been real smart last night I think I could have stopped Lightning by whistling to her, but I wasn’t thinking very straight. When I heard the bushwhackers galloping off on her I just saw red in about five different shades.”
“Don’t blame you a bit, son,” said Old Bill. “Now let’s get down to the business of making camp and getting some grub. No use of our going to the bottom of the trail tonight. We’ll make camp here and I’ll tell you what I’ve got up my sleeve.”
Slim looked toward Chuck and jerked a thumb.
“What about him?”
“He’s in this thing as deep as you are. Just have a little patience. We’ll eat, then talk. A man can’t think well on an empty stomach.”