Page:Clarence Mulford - Man from Bar-20.djvu/261

 At Bay got three of us, if he got Ackerman; but we wasn't awake to his game then." Another flash came from the top of the butte, and he growled when he heard the spat of the bullet. "He ain't lost th' trail yet, but he's puttin' 'em high."

"He'd be a handy man to have around," said Fleming. "I wonder if he'd 'a' throwed in with us, 'stead of rustlin' by hisself?"

"I'd 'a' found that out if Ackerman hadn't 'a' been so dead set ag'in him," grunted Quigley, not refusing to take credit for an idea that was not his own. "I wonder," he mused.

"Offer him a share," suggested Purdy. "If we change our minds later, that's our business. We're losin' a lot of time with him; too much."

There was a sudden rattle of shale and pebbles, low-voiced profanity and a crash of breaking branches. "Cuss them rotten ledges!" said a voice not far distant. "An' d—n these cactus an' locusts! I owe him more than he can ever square up, blast his hide!

"Thank th' Lord," muttered Quigley in sudden relief.

"But mebby he is workin' for Logan," objected Fleming. "Hey, Frank! Over here."

"If he is it's about time for th' CL to hunt him up," Purdy growled anxiously. "We'd shore be in a fix if they caught us down here!" 249