“Did you steal my horse?” he asked finally, when he found his voice. He tried to sound stern, but his voice insisted on quavering.
“No, sir!” denied the stranger, who was more frightened because Jim was obviously excited than he would have been had the boy been calm and steady. “I borrowed a horse a couple of days ago but I took good care of him and turned him loose so he could go home.”
Jim thought this over for a minute. The evidence of the bridle and Ticktock’s recent grooming pointed to the truth of the statement.
“Why’d you borrow him?” he asked. “I went down to the railroad tracks to see if you were hurt, and you ran off with my horse.”
“I was scared,” said the man frankly. “I didn’t see you were a boy. A railroad cop had just chased me off that freight. I thought maybe they had rangers in this state like they have in Texas and one was after me for bumming a ride. I just lost my head and ran.”
“How did you get here?” Jim was very annoyed at anyone’s finding his hideaway.
“After I got on the horse I just rode away as fast as I could. When I came to this woods I slowed down and let that little horse walk along. All of a sudden he turned off the road and came here. It looked as good a spot as any, so I stayed.”
The explanation was very logical. For once Jim wished that Ticktock would refrain from displaying his intelligence to others. It was all right to be smart, but to take a stranger to the secret hideaway was another matter.
“We’ll go back to the clearing,” he said firmly, motioning with his gun.
“Yes, sir,” the captive moved forward promptly. Jim marched behind the man, his nervousness gone. His brown hands held the gun steadily, and there was a serious frown on his normally cheerful face. He couldn’t quite figure out the situation. The stranger seemed perfectly frank and straightforward in his manner and didn’t look like a horse thief should. According to Jim’s conceptions, a horse thief should be a sullen, villainous man with a mustache and a long scar on his cheek. This man was a good-natured, honest-appearing person.