“Seven; but thar ain’t so many, by one,” came from Hotchkiss. “Pete dropped one of ’em, an’ I put another on the retired list.”
“An’ he sent word ter you, Buffler,” spoke up Pete; “Lawless did. He said ye was ter be told he’d made er clean-up, an’ thet he was achin’ ter hev you trail arter him an’ his gang an’ try ter make a clean-up o’ yer own.”
“Then he’ll get what he wants,” said the scout grimly.
“Ain’t got so many passengers as we left Montegordo with by two,” mourned Billings.
“How’s that?” the scout asked quickly. “I was expecting Cayuse back on this stage, and——”
“Waal, he left ’Gordo with the stage, all right, an’ he was roostin’ on ther back seat with the mail an’ ther luggage up to jest afore we hit Lawless fer the fust time. About then ther leetle Piute disappeared.”
“Did Lawless or his men see him, do you know?”
“I reckon not; Cayuse was gone when ther gang come down on us.”
The scout’s face cleared.
“The boy’s all right,” said he; “he scented trouble, and ten to one he’s trailing the gang. We’ll hear from him. But you spoke of two passengers. Who was the other?”