"A rifle an' a buckskin jacket."
"Whew, ye don't tell!"
"Yes, there they were, thrown down upon the bank. Lookin' up an' down the river my eyes caught sight of a piece of a canoe floatin' in a little eddy along the shore. Examinin' it closely I found it was the one Shorty kep' above the rapids. Goin' down-stream a bit I found another big chunk on a sand-bar, which made me sartin that somethin' had happened to the gang. Comin' back I struck an Injun camp, where there was an old squaw an' a young 'un. They told me the hull yarn an' a d— sight more, too. That afternoon I skirted the river an' caught up with the travellers. Twice they spotted me, which made 'em hike like h—"
"But what did they do with the kid?" questioned Pete.
"Took it to Old Meg's, so the squaw told me. Guess it's there yit."
"Good," exclaimed Bill, "we'll not lose it. If Meg's got it, we're all right."
"Don't be too sure of that," replied Shifty. "What about that young cub with Buckskin Dan?"
"An' ye say that he had the kid?"
"Sartin. Didn't I tell ye?"