“Yes; we took a little stroll for the benefit of our health,” the knight of the plains replied.
“I suppose you feel that it has done you good?”
“Oh, yes! It has given us a good appetite.”
Not a word was said about the duel, for Cody had a suspicion that the girl returned the love which Mainwaring confessed he felt for her. He did not wish to alarm her more than was absolutely necessary, and he felt that he had only played the first game in the rubber with the Death Riders.
The stake that hung upon that rubber, as he well knew, was nothing less than life or death; but he believed that he could play out the game successfully.
Later in the day, on making inquiries, Buffalo Bill found that Ketchum had taken his horse, sold all his belongings, and driven away from Danger Divide.
He evidently had not cared to stay in the place after the proceedings of the early morning, or perhaps he feared that the king of the scouts would still call him to account in a manner that would prove fatal for him.
Everybody in the place was agreed that his departure was “a good riddance of bad rubbish,” and the only people who felt any regret at his vanishing were his creditors.
Two days later, the damaged wagon having been repaired, Mr. Doyle and his party set out from the little settlement to resume their journey.