Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/293

Rh another, hoping to find Claudius Brown in the number, but the leader of the Thirteen was not to be seen, and evidently he had succeeded in escaping from his pursuers. Then Robert quickly sought out his friend Joseph and said to him,— "I must go back to the place where I left my horse. Can you come with me?"

"You 're a fine looking object!" exclaimed Joseph, with a laugh. "Your clothes look like a lot of holes tied together."

"Yours would, too, if you had been through what I have," replied Robert grimly.

"What's that?"

"I 'll tell you all about it on our way back, and you can tell me how you happened to be here. It was mighty fortunate that you were, for me, anyway."

"All right. Come on, I 'll ask Captain Wood."

The two young men sought the leader of the force of fifty men, and though at first he appeared to be somewhat suspicious of Robert, he was soon convinced by Joseph's word that he was what he claimed to be. He refused permission for Joseph to return with his friend, however, explaining that his presence might be required at any moment, and