“I am glad to receive information about Gerald Lane. I enclose five dollars. When you hear anything more about him, particularly when he returns, write me again.
“Bradley Wentworth.”
He did not, however, address this to Jake Amsden, Esq., rather to the disappointment of his gifted correspondent. But Jake found substantial consolation in the five dollars enclosed, which soon found its way into the coffers of Pete Johnson.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE BACKWOODS HOTEL.
Three weeks later Noel Brooke and Gerald, after a long day’s ride, halted their horses in front of a rude, one-story dwelling at the foot of a precipitous hill in Western Colorado.
“I hope this is a hotel, Gerald,” said the tourist. “I am tired and hungry.”
“So am I. We have had a rough ride to-day.”
“No doubt our poor horses think so,” went on Brooke, gently stroking the neck of his patient steed. The weary animal signified the pleasure which the caress gave him, and turning his head looked at his rider with almost human intelligence.