e night," he
told the boy.

Homer Dinsmore's teeth drew back in a derisive snarl. "Want company
again on the trip so's you won't be robbed, Mr. Ridley?"

The Easterner did not answer, but color flushed his face at the taunt.

Roberts offered a comment on his behalf:

"Ridley was young then. He's gettin' older every day. I notice he didn't
ask for company when he flung himself down over Clint Wadley's body to
protect it from the bullets of a killer."

All afternoon they followed the Canadian River as it wound to the east.
They made camp beside it at night, cooking the coffee on a fire of
buffalo chips. Jerked beef and hardtack, washed down with coffee, was
their fare.

Dinsmore had fallen into a sullen silence, but the other two carried on
desultory talk. The two young fellows were not very comfortable in each
other's society; they did not understand the mental habits of each
other. But Jack maintained a cheerful friendliness to which Arthur
responded gratefully. Behind the curtain of their talk was a girl. The
spell of her was on them both. Each of them could see her in the coals
of the fire, light-footed and slim, with shy eyes tender and shining.
But neither of them drew the curtain to their deeper thoughts.

After they had eaten, the Ranger handcuffed his prisoner and pegged him
down loosely. He put out the fire, for he did not want the location of
the camp to be betrayed by smoke. He gave Ridley the first
watch--because it was the easier of the two. With a saddle for a pillow
and a slicker for a blanket, he lay down beneath the stars and fell
asleep. Once, in his dreams, he thought he heard the sound of beating
drums. When he wakened at the time set, the night was still. The
prisoner was sound asleep, and Ridley, propped against his saddle, was
keeping vigilant watch.

Robert mentioned his fancy about the drums.

Arthur smiled. "Before Dinsmore turned over he was snoring like a
far-away thunder-storm. I expect that's what you heard."

Jack roused the others as soon as the promise of day was in the sky. By
sunup they were ready to travel.

There was a bluff back of the camp that gave an outlook over the
country. The Ranger left his prisoner in the care of Arthur while he
climbed to its summit for a glance up and down the river. He knew that
the Mexican girl would get word to the friends of her sweetheart that he
had been arrested. There was a chance that they might already be close.
Anyhow, it would do