Page:Hendryx--Connie Morgan with the Mounted.djvu/255

Rh ain't so bad. Jest dig in now and red up the place a bit, an' then we'll make medicine."

While Connie collected the fish from the floor, unharnessed and fed his dogs, and carried fire-wood from the pile from behind the cabin, Rickey with the aid of his axe, succeeded in restoring the stove to some semblance of its original appearance. Luckily the pipe had escaped notice of the marauders, and the boy soon had a fire going and a kettle of fish boiling. As he busied himself about the camp, his brain worked rapidly, and later, while the two devoured their boiled fish, he broached his plan.

We'll stay here in the cabin tonight, he began "and I'll get a good rest and rest up the dogs, and in the morning I'll hit out after those fellows. They haven't got more than two or three days' start. And when once that old leader of mine ties onto a trail, he never quits. You'll have to stay here 'til I get back with the grub and the outfit that's got it. Then we'll leave enough in the cache for the MacPherson patrol and hike on into Dawson with our prisoners."

"How many of 'em is they?" asked Rickey dubiously.