Page:The Cross Pull.pdf/238



ate in the afternoon Kinney rode into camp, leading Moran’s favorite saddle horse as the note had asked. He brought also the news that Harmon was camped some five miles east of the cabin. He had seen the pack train winding down a ridge and later had located the horses grazing on a meadow. With the aid of his glasses he had identified them as Harmon’s string.

Moran had speculated over the possible number of men they would find when Flash led them to their retreat. There might be many and it was certain that they were desperate—men who would never surrender. He had put another proposition to Vermont to which he had at last agreed. Harmon’s opportune arrival simplified the carrying out of this plan. As a consequence, when Kinney left it was with the promise that he would visit the ranger’s camp on the following day. He carried both a letter and a verbal message from Moran. The letter was for the owner of the Bar-