“I told y’u to watch out, y’u muttonhead!”
“But y’u clean forgot to remember to watch out your own self,” spoke up McWilliams, unbuckling the belt from the waist of his new captive.
“Oh, Mac, you blessed boy!” cried Helen, with an hysterical laugh that was half a sob.
“How did you ever find me?”
“Followed the track of the gas wagon to where it ran out of juice. We lost your trail after that, but Denver and me had the good luck to pick it up again where y’u’d camped that night. We mislaid it again up in the hills, and Denver he knew about this place. We dropped in just casual for information, but when we set our peepers on Judd we allowed we would stay awhile, him being so anxious to have us.”
“You dear boys! I’m so glad! You don’t know,” she sobbed, dropping weakly into thes nearest chair.
“We can guess, ma’am,” her foreman answered grimly, his eyes on Bannister.” And if either of these scoundrels have treated y’u so they need their light put out all y’u have got to do is to say so.”
“No, no, Mac. Let us go away from here and leave them. Can’t we go now—this very minute?”
The foreman’s eyes found those of Denver and the latter nodded. Neither of them had had a bite to eat since the previous evening, and they were naturally ravenous.
“All right. We’ll go right now, ma’am. Denver, I’ll take care of these beauties while y’u step into the pantry with Mrs. Lo-the-poor-Indian and put up a lunch. Y’u don’t want to forget we’re hungry enough to eat the wool off a pair of chaps.”