"Why did Cordts split on the trail?"
"He an' Hutch went round fer some more of the gang, an' to head off Joel Creech when he comes in with Bostil's hosses."
Slone was amazed to find how the horse thieves had calculated; yet, on second thought, the situation, once the Creeches had been recognized, appeared simple enough.
"What was your game?" he demanded.
"I was follerin' Creech jest to find out where he'd hole up with the girl."
"What's Cordts's game—AFTER he heads Joel Creech?"
"Then he's goin' fer the girl."
Slone scarcely needed to be told all this, but the deliberate words from the lips of one of Cordts's gang bore a raw, brutal proof of Lucy's peril. And yet Slone could not bring himself to kill this man in cold blood. He tried, but in vain.
"Have you got a gun?" called Slone, hoarsely.
"Sure."