"Hooray!" yelled the other horse hunters, who, already mounted, stood behind their leader at the edge of the willows.
"An'—an'—wall, ther desert hes dangers uv its own an' if at any time Bud Reynolds er ther boys kin help yer out send fer them to ther San Pablo Range and if we're thar we'll be with yer ter ther last bank uv ther last ditch."
With a sigh of relief Bud flung himself upon his pony and drove the spurs home. Amidst a tornado of yells and shouts the rest, waving their sombreros wildly, dashed off after him. In a few moments they were only a cloud of dust on the alkali.
"I declare I feel kind of sad now they're gone," said Miss Sally after an interval of silence.
"Rough diamonds," opined old Mr. Bell guardedly.
"But they've got warm, big hearts," stoutly declared Peggy. "I wish—"
She stopped abruptly.
"Wish what, Peggy dear?" asked Jess, noting the troubled look that had crept over her chum's face.
"Oh, nothing at all," rejoined Peggy. But she was not speaking the whole truth, for the girl had been thinking what a bulwark of strength Bud and his followers would have been against the vague menace of Red Bill.
It was late that night—after midnight as well as Peggy could judge—that she was awakened by Jess bending over her cot in the tent that both girls shared.