While Tenny was gone, the scout stripped the outlaw of his knife and six-shooters.
The capture of Tex was an unexpected stroke of luck, but just how much luck there was in it the scout could not tell until later.
CHAPTER XXV.
A COWED OUTLAW.
Tex was bound and half-dragged and half-carried down the slope to the bottom of the valley. Bringing his horse down was a hard proposition, but Tenny managed to accomplish it by throwing a couple of somersaults and barking his shins on the rocks.
It was very evident that Tex was the only one of Lawless’ men in that immediate vicinity, and the scout and his pards considered themselves fairly secure. Dell rode out from under the sheltering bank leading Bear Paw and Tenny’s mount. She had heard enough of the conversation between the scout and Tenny to understand what had happened.
“He’s a good fighter, Dell,” said the scout, when she and Tenny had both reached his side and they were grouped about Tex and waiting for him to recover his wits. “If he had been as good with his rifle as he is with his hands, Tenny would have been out of the reckoning by now.”
“Did you catch him napping, pard?”
“I blundered right onto him. If his ears had been sharp, he would have heard me climbing up the bank, for I reached the top only a few yards from where he was lying, waiting for a chance to take a shot across the valley.”
“Whyever did ye want ter ketch him alive?” asked Tenny.
“He’s a weak sister, Tenny, in the sense that his allegiance to Lawless’ gang is none too hard and fast. I know that from things I have heard. I think we can use Tex; at any rate, I intend to see what I can do with him.”