"Now get up! Give me your hand," whispered, the stranger. "Don't speak."
For some little time they crept on in silence, the stranger twisting and turning, finally taking to the middle of a mountain stream and following it up for some distance when he halted.
"Tell me what the situation is back there. What did they propose to do to you?" demanded the man.
"I expect the gang is on its way there now to shoot me up, provided I do not give them the information they seek," answered Hippy.
"What information?"
Lieutenant Wingate repeated the conversation of the previous night, leaving out no details, however trivial they might seem to him.
"I thought so. Come up here and sit down. I shall have to leave you, perhaps for an hour or more. When I return I will give one short whistle. If all is well you will reply with two short whistles."
"You are going back there to spy on that outfit that we just left?" questioned Hippy.
"Yes. I want to see who the others are, and what they have up their sleeves. Here's a revolver for you. I suppose they took yours. Don't use it unless you have to."
"Wait a moment!" called Hippy, as his mysterious friend started away. "Haven't you forgotten something? That 'snack' you promised to dig for."