“That I cannot tell you, Mr. Murray,” replied Elfreda.
“He was some handy with the gun, I’ll say, Miss.”
Elfreda moved away from Two-gun, and asked anxiously if any word had been had of Stacy. None had. She then suggested to Tom that the wounded bandit might be able to give them information that would lead to finding Stacy, so Tom asked Two-gun if he knew of Stacy’s whereabouts. The bandit shook his head. He said he knew that two members of the Overland party had been captured, but that he had not learned what had become of the prisoners.
“There is one of them,” Captain Gray informed him, pointing to Hippy. “Were both men taken to the same place?”
“They might have been,” was the reply, and that was all that could be elicited from Two-gun Murray.
There was nothing now to be done save to wait until the men, who had tricked the bandits and saved the Overlanders from probable serious consequences, advised them what to do; so the party made themselves as comfortable as possible, sleeping part of the time and taking turns at watching the camp and Two-gun Murray.
At night their vigil was redoubled, for none knew how many of Two-gun’s companions were at large. They knew that some had been captured, as Hippy Wingate had told them so, and that Ham White had had a fist fight with Hawk Murray, the leader of the band of marauders that had terrified the entire Cascade Range.
It was well after midnight when the camp was hailed. Tom answered the hail.
“Come forward with your hands up and identify yourself,” he ordered.
“Yeow!” howled a voice that brought every member of the Overland party to his feet.