"What a lookin' skunk you be!" he laughed as he went on with the picking.
We resumed our journey. Our guide left us at the town line some three miles beyond.
"Thank God the danger is over," said Purvis. "The tar on my neck has melted an' run down an' my shirt sticks like the bark on a tree. I'm sick o' the smell o' myself. If I could find a skunk I'd enjoy holdin' him in my lap a while. I'm goin' back to St. Lawrence County about as straight as I can go. I never did like this country anyway."
He had picked the feathers out of his neck and Latour was now busy picking his arms and shoulders. Presently he took off his feathered coat and threw it away, saying:
"They'll have to pay for this. Every one o' those jackrabbits will have to settle with me."
"You brought it on yourself," I said. "You ran away from me and got us all into trouble by being too smart. You tried to be a fool and succeeded beyond your expectation. My testimony wouldn't help you any."
"You're always against the capitalist," he answered.
It was dark when I left my companions in Cobleskill. I changed my clothes and had my supper and found Judge Westbrook in his home and reported the talk of Curtis and our adventure and my view of the situation back in the hills. I observed that he gave the latter a cold welcome.
"I shall send the sheriff and a posse," he said with a troubled look.
"Pardon me, but I think it will make a bad matter worse," I answered.