Then Hare sat up, leaning against the stone, his shirt open and his bare shoulder bloody; his face was pale, but his eyes were smiling. “Cheer up, Dave. I'm not dead yet.”
“Sure he's not,” said Zeke. “He ducked none too soon, or too late, and caught the bullet high up in the shoulder.”
Dave sat down very quietly without a word, and the hand he laid on Hare's knee shook a little.
“When I saw George go for his gun,” went on Zeke, “I knew there'd be a lively time in a minute if it wasn't stopped, so I just said Jack was dead.”
“Do you think they came over to get me?” asked Hare.
“No doubt,” replied Dave, lifting his face and wiping the sweat from his brow. “I knew that from the first, but I was so dazed by Snap's going over to Holderness that I couldn't keep my wits, and I didn't mark Snap edging over till too late.”
“Listen, I hear horses,” said Zeke, looking up from his task over Hare's wound.
“It's Billy, up on the home trail,” added George. “Yes, and there's father with him. Good Lord, must we tell him about Snap?”
“Some one must tell him,” answered Dave.
“That'll be you, then. You always do the talking.”