Page:The Cross Pull.pdf/232

 want him here with me. I miss him—miss him every living second he’s away. It’s all true, Flash, every word. I don’t mind confessing it so shamelessly to you. How is it all going to come out?”

When Kinney arrived Flash dropped down to look over the horses. He spent most of the night in the cabin but made frequent trips to make sure of the safety of the stock. Once they left, intending to cross out over the divide, but he drove them back. Half an hour before daylight Betty attached a note to his collar and sent him back to Moran.

“Take care of him, Flash. Bring him back to me. Go, boy! Take it to Moran. Go!” Flash departed swiftly. When he neared the other camp he was shy about approaching it. Even though he had been among them the day before these men might shoot. He circled uphill behind it and slipped down through the timber. Figures moved about in the gray dawn. A fire blazed up. He heard Moran’s voice and made a silent dash for him. The first they knew of his presence was when Moran stooped down to take the note. Each man greeted him warmly. It is almost an invariable rule that an indoor man of soft habits has little appreciation for the practical work of