"I never saw him once until he plunged from the cliff with your bullet through him."
"Wa'al, it's all over now, an' we'll go back to the camp. The boys had been worryin' 'bout you some, and I concluded I'd come out an' look fur you, an' ef it hadn't been fur my concludin' so I guess you'd been settin' thar in that holler a month from now, an' the Indian would hev been settin' in a holler above you. At least I hev saved you from a long waitin' spell."
"You have," said Will with heartfelt emphasis, "and again I thank you."
"Come on, then. I kin see the fire shinin' through the trees an' Jim an' Steve cookin' our supper."
Will hurried along, but his knees grew weak again and objects swam before his eyes. He had not yet recovered his strength fully after passing through the tremendous test of mental and physical endurance, when he lay so long in that little hollow in the side of the mountain. The Little Giant was about to thrust out a hand and help sustain him, but he did not do so, remembering that it would hurt the lad's pride. The gold hunter, uneducated, spending his life in the wilds, had nevertheless a delicacy of feeling worthy of the finest flower of civilization.
Will was near to the fire now and the pleasant aroma of broiling venison came to him. Boyd and Brady were moving about the flames, engaged in pleasant homely tasks, and all his strength returned. Once more his head was steady and his muscles strong.
"I made a long stay," he called cheerfully to them, "too long, I fear, nor do I bring a mountain sheep back with me."
The sharp eyes of the hunter and the trapper saw at once in his pallid face and exaggerated manner that something unusual had happened, but they pretended to take no notice.
"Did you see any sheep?" asked Boyd.
"Yes," replied the lad, "I had a splendid view of a grand ram, standing high on a jutting stone over the great valley."