Page:Hugh Pendexter--Kings of the Missouri.djvu/217

 And his eyes glittered at the thought of new adventures in the marvelous country Bridger had so often described.

Lander wanted above all things to return to St. Louis in the fall. To go until another summer without seeing Susette was sickening to contemplate. Yet a dead man and the inimical shadow of the A. F. C. barred his homeward path.

"I'll think about it," he sighed. "I suppose it's the only thing I can do."

"I'll throw in a suit of black broadcloth—the best you can buy in St. Louis," added Bridger.

"It's a trade," sighed Lander, "unless my knife-medicine makes it possible for me to go back to St. Louis."

Bridger was highly pleased. He had reached the rendezvous ahead of the A. F. C. outfit and had secured the cream of the trade. He had made the Upper Missouri outfit admit his importance by sending their men to head him off and to compete with him. Now by extraordinary luck he stood in position to secure the bulk of the rich Crow trade. While enjoying these delectable feelings one of his men rode up and announced a small band was coming down the river with a white man in the lead.