“We’ll keep on if you say the word, scout,” said Danforth.
“You’d ride straight into the jaws of hell if you thought there’d be a fight, Dick,” said Cody. “But discretion is the better part of valor in this case.”
“I hate to give Bennett up,” grumbled the younger man.
“So do I. But it can’t be helped.”
“When I get back to Resistence I’m going to ask Colonel Royal to give me a roving commission to hunt the scoundrel down.”
Neither of them realized at the time what the putting of this decision into practise would amount to in the end.
CHAPTER XXIV.
CHASED BY THE FLAMES.
The welcome that greeted the Border King upon his return to Fort Advance was proof of his popularity, and of the admiration the garrison held him in. That his coolness and wisdom had saved the paymaster’s money-box from capture by the bandits, and so made it unnecessary for the boys in blue to endure another long wait for their pay, added not a little to their feeling for the scout.
The troopers had told the story in full. Captain Hinkley and his guard had been buried, and the coach-driver, as well. The soldiers had a most revengeful feeling toward Boyd Bennett and his outlaw band, and Danforth went back to Resistence with his troop, threatening slaughter for the road-agents if he could catch them.