Satisfied that all of them understood their parts, he told them to wait for his signal to creep down the hill, and turned to the side that faced the camp. The two men, carrying the torch and the white flag, had almost reached the foot of the hill by this time and as they showed no indication of halting, Kendrick stopped them with a sharp command.
"That's close enough!" he called in warning. "What do you want?"
"Red sent us over to find out what'n hell you fellas means by grabbin' off one o' our men."
"He's not one of your men," denied Phil.
"You're a liar!" cried the man who was carrying the flag. "He belongs to our party an' we want him back damn quick or we'll come an' take him. What're you holdin' him prisoner fer? You let him go, Mister, an' there won't be no more fuss about it."
"All right. If he wants to go back to the camp, he can go. Wait a minute and I'll ask him."
He made a pretense of doing so.
"Away you go now! Don't step on any loose stones. Good luck, Miss
Lawson," was what he whispered.
The girl ran over to him and caught his hand.
"I think it's great of you, Mr. Kendrick," she murmured. "Good-bye, and good luck to you also," and with that she was gone; but he thrilled at the farewell pressure of her fingers.