Hoyt gnawed his lip and glanced ominously at Harry, as if he had a mind to shoot him where he stood.
"I tell you," said Hoyt, "that the whole town will be after us."
"Well, I can't help it," replied the sheriff. "If the whole county comes, they can't have my two-thousand-dollar prisoner. I think they know me even in Buttercup, mister."
Hoyt was powerless to do anything, but Harry was certain that he saw a desperate purpose written on his face, and he determined to be on his guard if the men did come after him.
Bill meanwhile was flying back over the five miles that lay between him and Buttercup with all the speed he could obtain from his horse.
He rode into the street at a full gallop, his hat lost and his hair flying, and did not stop until he was at the door of the house where Missoo lived.
He was known by this time as one of Harry's friends, and it was generally known that the two went riding together. To see him coming back in such a fashion was sufficient to make them all wonder, and in the first fear that Harry had met with an accident, there was a rush after Bill all adown the street.
"What's the matter?" "Where's Gent?" "Is he hurt?" were some of the most prominent of the questions.
"Where's Missoo?" asked Bill, in a loud voice.
"Here he is," was the answer from the window of the house. "Whar's Gent?"