Amos was again rolling over, only this this time he went in the opposite direction, and away from the sleeping men. Having secured the coveted gun, it seemed that Amos felt no further desire to seek the society of the fellow who had held possession of it.
When he reached the spot where the girl crouched, Amos paused. She had watched his every move with deepest satisfaction, to judge from her attitude as she knelt there.
Amos when he halted, seemed to be saying something to Sallie.
It was easy enough for Dolph to guess the nature of this whispered communication, for the same idea had been in the mind of the watcher.
He was again endeavoring to influence the child to desert her evil father, and go with himself and chums. No doubt Amos had talked it all over with Sallie before, and she knew full well that these kind-hearted boys would see that she arrived safely at her maternal grandmother’s home in the Soo, if she but consented.
But from the emphatic way in which she shook her head it was evident that Sallie had not changed her mind a particle, and could not be convinced that her reprobate old “dad” was utterly beyond hope of being reclaimed.
Dolph felt his spirits fall, for somehow he had cherished a hope that the child might give way to the pleading of Amos, for whom she seemed to have taken such a fancy, and allow them to better her condition.
It was hard indeed to leave her there in the midst of such discomfort, and with only those two rough men for company, when if she but changed her stubborn little mind she might live in a pleasant home.
But she continued to refuse to go, and of course they could not think of trying to carry her off against her will.