“I’ll give you eight dollars now and the balance when I come back.”
“No sir!” replied the other firmly. “You might fix up to stay there.”
“Will an order on the railroad pay-clerk satisfy you?”
“It won’t. If you want the horse, you must put the money down.”
“Then I can’t make the deal.”
The man drove on, but Kermode was not to be daunted by such a difficulty; besides, he had noticed Jim, the hired man, dawdling about the outside of the stable. When the buggy was out of sight, he accosted him.
“I want the roan in half an hour,” he said. “I see you have Mrs. Leaver’s saddle here, and as she’s away, you had better put it on. I’m going to take the lady you saw with me to Drummond.”
“S’pose you have seen the boss about it?”
“You must have noticed me talking to him,” Kermode replied curtly. “Bring the horse along to Mrs. Jasper’s as soon as you’re ready.”
Then he returned to the hotel and wrote a note which he gave the bar-tender, instructing him to let the proprietor of the livery-stable have it when he came in for dinner. After this he succeeded in borrowing a small tent, and when he had supplied himself with provisions he hurried toward the widow’s shack. The horse was already there, and when he had strapped on the folded tent and Miss Foster’s bag he helped her to mount, and set off, carrying his blankets and stores in a pack on his back. He showed no sign of haste and chatted gaily, though he was anxious to get out of the town as soon as possible, because he did not know when the stable-keeper would return.