rs with
a grave, almost fierce expression, for a second or two.

"You come from the Mountain Fort?" he said.

"Yes," replied Redhand.

"All right there?"

"All right. The redskins threatened an attack, but we were too quick
for 'em."

A gleam of satisfaction passed across Dick's face as he added, "You've
lost a comrade, han't ye?"

"We jist have," cried Big Waller in surprise. "If you've seed him, I
guess ye'd as well take us to his whereabouts."

"See you yonder pine?" said Dick, pointing back in the direction whence
he had come. "One day's journey beyond that, as the crow flies, will
bring you to a valley, level and well watered, with plenty o' beaver in
it. You'll find him there."

Without waiting a reply Dick turned to ride away.

"I say, stranger," cried Waller (Dick paused), "air you, or air you not,
the Wild Man o' the West?"

"Wild fools of the West call me so," replied Dick with a ferocious
frown, that went far to corroborate the propriety of the cognomen in the
opinion of the trappers.

"Wall, I tell 'ee wot it is, stranger, Wild Man or not, I guess you'll
ha' to take us to our comrade yourself, for I'm inclined to opine that
you know more about him than's good for ye; so if ye try to ride off,
I'll see whether a ball--sixteen to the pound--'ll not stop ye, for all
yer bigness."

A grim smile curled Dick's moustache as he replied, "If ye think that a
trapper's word ain't to be trusted, or that committin' murder 'll do yer
comrade a service, here's your chance--fire away!"

Dick wheeled about and cantered coolly away into the thickest part of
the forest, leaving the trappers gazing at each other in amazement.
Bertram was the first to speak.

"Oh, why did you not delay him a few seconds longer? See, I have him
here--all but the legs of his splendid charger."

The others burst into a laugh.

"If ye've got the body all c'rect, it's easy to calculate the legs by
the rules o' proportion, d'ye see?" observed Bounce.

"Come, lads, that's good news about March, anyhow," cried Redhand; "an'
I'm of opinion that the Wild Man o' the West an't just so wild as people
think. I, for one, will trust him. There's somethin' about the corner
of a man's eye that tells pretty plain whether he's false or true.
Depend on't we shall find March where he told us, so the sooner we set
off the better."

Without waiting for a reply, Redhand urged his horse into a gallop, and,
followed by his comrades, made fo