“I believe you,” said Loney, “for I’ve been hungry ever since we hit the trail. And so is Mr. Goldberg, only he pretends he isn’t. Business isn’t very good in his line out here,” added the child reflectively.
Then they went, hand in hand, to the dining-room, Shoshone feeling a distinct thrill of pleasure at the confiding clasp of those little fingers. Loney felt a great confidence in this big man who had such kind eyes. Neither of them would have felt so happy had they seen the two evil faces peering at them from between two great rocks half-covered by creeping vines.
As Shoshone and the child disappeared into the house, the two men came down to the ground, and John, with a face white with anger, hissed:
“You liar! You see the boy is not dead! That Jew is here, seeking his daughter, and the fool she was to marry! All in the same house with us! A fine fix you have got us in!”
“I t’ought I’d croaked him! He fell like a lump o’ lead, and when I dragged him he never moved. What’s to be done? Say it, and I’ll do it.”
“Our lives are not worth a wisp of straw! If these rough Westerners had but an inkling of this, we’d adorn that lone tree over there in a short time. They have such absurd notions about women here.”
“Say, don’t talk like dat. It gives me a sore t’roat. Say, what’s the matter of turning the gal loose. She’s daffy, anyhow, and if dey find her it’ll be all right, and, if dey don’t, de mountain lions will find her for sure.”
“Oh, come on. I must figure it out some way. No one must see us here. Our very lives depend upon it. I have it. We can get out the same way we did—out the back window, upstairs and on to the rocks. It is our only chance. Let us get safely away from here, and out on the range, then let him follow. Or, rather, we will follow, to ‘Cactus Bill’s’ claim. I knew he had one, but, drunk or sober, he never gave his secret away.”
“We’re in a hole, cull,” said Dopey gloomily, while John said grimly:
“You are right. So long as Dora and that boy, Loney, live. Once out of this, and their lives shall never stand to threaten me with the electric chair. Come on; we must not be seen.”