As soon as the outlaws were well out of sight Ben arose and prepared for action. First of all he tightened his belt. Then he pulled the hood of his coat well over his head, so that it effectually concealed his face, and, still further to accomplish the end in view, he fastened the hood in front with a wooden pin. Proceeding to the stable he found, as he had hoped and expected, that the outlaws had left one or two horse-cloths behind in their flight. In one of these he enveloped his person in such a way as to render it unrecognisable. Then he walked straight into the cave, and, without a word of warning, threw his strong arms a round Shank Leather and lifted him off the ground.
Of course Leather shouted and struggled at first, but as well might a kitten have struggled in the grip of a grizzly bear. In his worn condition he felt himself to be utterly powerless. Buck Tom made a feeble effort to rise and help him, but the mere effort caused him to fall back with a groan of helpless despair.
Swiftly his captor bore Leather up the side of the hill till he got behind a clump of trees, into the heart of which he plunged, and then set his burden down on his feet. At the same time, throwing back his hood and flinging away the horse-cloth, he stood up and smiled.
“Hunky Ben, or his ghost!” exclaimed Shank, forgetting his indignation in his amazement.
“You’re right, young man, though you’ve only see’d me once that I know of. But most men that see me once are apt to remember me.”
“Well, Hunky,” said Leather, while the indignation began to return, “you may think this very amusing, but it’s mean of a big strong man like you to take advantage of a fellow that’s as weak as a child from wounds an’ fever. Lend me one o’ your six-shooters, now, so as we may stand on somewhat more equal terms and—but a truce to boasting! I’m sure that you wouldn’t keep smiling at me like a Cheshire cat if there wasn’t something behind this.”
“You’re right, Mr Leather,” said Ben, becoming at once grave and earnest. “There is somethin’ behind it—ay, an’ somethin’ before it too. So much, that I have barely time to tell ’ee. So, listen wi’ both ears. There’s a bunch o’ men an’ troops close to the Trap even now, on their way to visit your cave. If they find you—you know what that means?”
“Death,” said Leather quietly.
“Ay, death; though ye don’t desarve it,” said Ben.
“But I do deserve it,” returned Shank in the same quiet voice.