CHAPTER XXVII
AN UNLOOKED-FOR DENIAL
"You've done a big thing, my boy," Brace said, approvingly, when Fred's story was concluded, "an' it won't be long before we can bring Sam back to Farley's with not so much as a suspicion against him. Besides that, we own the land that'll make all hands rich."
"How did you do it?"
Joe gave him all the details, and concluding with the interview between himself and Mr. Wright, said:
"I didn't leave that night as I decided on; but went back to see poor Bill, an' your mother insisted I stay till mornin'. The sun wasn't up when I started out, an' a mighty blind hunt it proved to be till the first camp was struck. That kinder livened me a bit; but I couldn't get onto the trail, an' from then till Gus yelled I hadn't any idea which way to go."
"How far do you suppose we are from Farley's?"
"I reckon it'll take smart walkin' for the rest of this day, an' the best part of to-morrow before we see the works."
"And the provisions I took from Tim and Gus are all gone."
"I've got enough for supper, if we don't eat too hearty, and the balance of the time we can suck our thumbs."