“We’ve trusted him so far,” Alex replied, “and I see no reason why we should not continue to do so. Besides, the boy is ill, and must not be excited. But, look here, that man is undoubtedly still around here somewhere. Why he sent the boy over the mountains alone is more than I can say, but a man who will commit an unprovoked murder is equal to almost anything! We’d better get back to the Rambler. He may try to get the boy away again. We’ll look after this Mr. Richard Miller, all right!”
“You just bet we will!” was the answer, and the boys, forgetting, for the moment, the men whose camp they had invaded, crept out of the tumbled rocks and, once out of range of the three men on the hills, hastened toward the Rambler. Half way to the river, Alex paused.
“I wonder if the men we saw aren’t officers, looking after this Miller person?” he asked. “They’ve got the description of him, you know.”
“No they haven’t!” chuckled Case. “I brought it away with me.”
“That was a foolish thing to do,” Alex protested. “Now they will know that their camp has, been visited. I reckon we’d better get the Rambler under way just as soon as we get to it. If we don’t they’ll find us and make trouble.”
Case agreed with this view of the matter, and, as they stood on the east bank of the Columbia, waiting for Clay to run across and get them, they decided to tell him all about it and to advise an immediate departure for Upper Arrow lake, where Gran would, they thought, be safe.
Clay was not a little excited at the recital. He agreed with the boys that they ought to leave at once, and preparations for departure were accordingly begun. Gran looked on indolently at first, but finally called Clay to his side and asked:
“Are you going to leave this section of country now?”
“Of course,” was the guarded reply. “We want to get to the Pacific before snow flies, and we have a long way to go. Besides, we do not want to remain too long in one place.”
“But you wanted to hunt over on the plateau, this morning,” Gran urged. “And why did the boys come back from the mountain so soon? Is there anything wrong?”