In places, where the trail narrowed down to a mere foot-path, they were compelled to break the close formation. At such times, one of the boys would be compelled to dismount and support the figure from the ground until the road again grew wider.
Altogether, it was a sorry and dejected group that made its way back over the selfsame route they had come only a few minutes before. In the twinkling of an eye, the carefully laid plans of Corporal Rand had miscarried. Their hopes had gone glimmering. Murky Nichols had shown his hand. One of Dick’s greatest worries just now was that the crafty outlaw himself would soon witness their arrival at the post.
Moving along carefully, their arms and shoulders aching from the strain put upon them, they came at last within sight of Wandley’s. As they emerged upon the small prairie, at the far side of which the post was situated, they came directly in the path of a sharp “northwester.” The smiling sky of an hour previous had become leaden with menace. Dun, metal-colored clouds scudded before the wind. The horizon, black and threatening, indicated only too plainly the approach of a storm.
They rode up to the door of the trading room in a dispirited silence. A curious group gathered about them. Anxiously, Dick scanned the unfamiliar faces, expecting to see that of Murky Nichols. But the outlaw was not there. Willing hands assisted them in lifting Pearly down from his precarious seat and help carry him within. The solicitous figure of Wandley himself presently pushed forward through the crowd.
“Mon Dieu! What has happened?” cried a voice.
“A policeman!” gasped Wandley, his good-humored face suddenly gray with concern. “Who shot him?”
Sandy mumbled something under his breath. Dick turned his head and looked up appealingly into the horrified eyes of the free trader.
“Will you help us out, Mr. Wandley? Constable Pearly’s condition is serious.”
Wandley took in the situation at a glance. He was a man of action. In an incredibly short space he had placed a room at the policeman’s disposal, and in various ways assisted in making him comfortable. A short time later, the three boys followed Wandley to the trading room, where they told the story of the ambuscade.
The free trader listened with rapt attention. A stolid, heavy-set man, known throughout the North for his honesty and sincerity of purpose, he showed by his manner and expression unmistakably what he thought of the outrage.