Page:J Allan Dunn--The Girl of Ghost Mountain.djvu/280

262 "Herron, he's a wolf on anything that spells cash, an' for a while I thought he was goin' to make a fuss about not gettin' it down on the spot, but Miss Mary she persuaded him she was good for it. An' I suggested I'd sort of back her note. I suspicion he fancied I'd use my gun for a fountain pen, but he comes through agreeable. An' the cuss lied to us after all. Said the tank was filled ready for his trip. Mebbe he forgot he hadn't filled it. But he hadn't.

"One flivver wa'n't goin' to hold the outfit an' I cudn't locate another. Jest before the boys come up, the sheriff here, he shows, an' Miss Mary takes him in tow."

Stoney looked in turn at the sheriff.

"I didn't need much persuadin' when I heard what you might be up against, Sheridan," he said. "I was in Metzal with the Federal officer I told you of. He rounded up Vasquez an' took him back on the train, but I stayed over to chin with some folks, an' mighty glad I was I did. Miss Burrows, if I'm rememberin' right, didn't ask me for my car, she sort of commandeered it. Then the bunch from yore ranch comes up on the run an' we piles in an' on an' starts through the night. Come ten miles an' Herron's flivver goes dead for lack of juice. I had to divvy with 'em. That's why we couldn't chase after the car that got away.

"We shacked along at a lively clip enough. I reckon we made better time than them heavy cars of the Chinks. A flivver is sure a reg'lar sand-flea for cross-country work. An' we hopped fast an' frequent. Well, you know the rest,"