“I’ll ride along with you if you’ve no objections,” said the Pike man. “We kin camp together to-night.”
So saying, he too mounted the sorry-looking steed which he had recently dismounted.
Joe was not hypocrite enough to say that he was welcome. He thought it best to be candid.
“If you are quite convinced that neither of us wishes to insult you,” he said quietly, “you can join us. If you are bent on quarreling, you had better ride on by yourself.”
The Pike man frowned fiercely.
“Boy,” he said, “I have shot a man for less than that.”
“I carry a revolver,” said Joe quietly, “but I shan’t use it unless it is necessary. If you are so easily offended, you’d better ride on alone.”
This the Pike man did not care to do.
“You’re a strange boy,” he said, “but I reckon you’re on the square. I’ll go along with you.”
“I would rather you’d leave us,” thought Joe, but he merely said: “Very well.”