“What else can I do! I can’t even wire Sherman without sending a man two hundred miles through the desert. The most important thing to my employers is to maintain possession of the line.”
“Of course—I see. I don’t know much about these things myself.”
After supper the wizened one announced that he must ride on with his party.
“You won’t stop with us to-night?” asked Carhart.
“No, thanks. It’ll be light an hour or two yet. I’ve got to move fast. I’ll lose a good deal, you see, going around by way of Pierrepont.”
“That’s so, of course. Well, good-by, sir.”
“Good-by.”
The riders swung into their saddles and cantered off eastward. Carhart turned to Young Van and slowly winked. “Come up to headquarters, Gus,” he said. “I’ve got some work for you.”
“I rather guess you have, if we’re going after Bourke.”