“Well, now that we’re all here, what’s to be done?” asked Hawks.
“Better leave that to Nig, it seems to me,” returned the owner of the Double Cross.
The others signifying their acquiescence by their silence, all eyes were turned upon the aged scout.
“Which way Louie go?” he inquired, after enjoying his importance for several minutes.
“South,” chorused two or three of the cowboys.
“Huh. Palefaces wait here. Nig take look round,” returned the half-breed, and without giving them time to protest, he sprang to his feet and glided off into the grass.
As though Dame fortune had decided to smile upon them, the night turned out to be clear as crystal and in due course a magnificent moon arose, bathing the plains in her silvery light till they were almost as bright as day.
For a while, after the aged scout had left them, Deadshot and Ki Yi regaled their companions with descriptions of the man’s marvellous skill in guiding them into and from the swamp. But as the minutes wore on without his return, they grew silent.
Suddenly Deadshot sprang to his feet.
“I say, let’s not give the old beggar the chance to get the drop on us again,” he exclaimed. “Ki Yi, you Dude and Pinky watch the North, West and East, and I’ll take the South. Challenge anything suspicious.”