t. And turning toward the swamp boy he
saw him make some sort of sign to the man--it might be merely a wave of
recognition; and again there may have been a deeper significance
connected with it.

"You knew him, then, Tony?" asked Phil, trying to seem indifferent.

"Oh! yes, sure," replied the other, quickly. "That was Gabe Barker."

"Barker!" exclaimed Phil, "any relation to our friend the sheriff, now?"

"Yep, that's the funny part o' it," replied Tony, with a slight smile.
"Gabe an' the sheriff be full cousins. But all the same, Gabe he
helped to carry the pole when they ride t'other Barker out o' the
settlement. They has a feud you see, his fambly an' that o' the
sheriff."

"But Gabe is one of the McGee clan now, isn't he?" pursued Phil.

"He's be'n, nigh on seven year," Tony admitted. "Think he licked the
father o' the sheriff, and hed tuh cut stick an' run afore they got
'im."

"Why d'ye suppose he didn't call out to you?" asked Phil; who really
considered this the most sinister part of the entire proceeding; for
according to his way of thinking it would have been the natural thing
for a man to have done under such circumstances.

Tony allowed that queer little smirk to creep over his face again.

"Gabe he would like to much, on'y he couldn't," he said.

"Why, I didn't see anybody stopping him!" ejaculated Larry.

Tony made a movement toward his mouth, and then observed:

"Gabe he not say much now for five years. Used tuh curse more'n three
men. Then a tree he was cutting down fell wrong way. Gabe he caught
underneath. Bite tongue off and near die when McGee find him. So he
makes talk with hands since that time."

"Oh! what d'ye think of that, now?" cried the wondering Larry. "Pretty
tough on that long-legged Gabe, for a fact. No wonder then, he didn't
call out to you, and ask all those questions I could see on his face."

"Tony, do you suppose now that Gabe came up the swift river in his
dugout, which I noticed floating on the water near where he stood on
that rise?" asked Phil, with a reason for the query.

The swamp boy looked uneasily at him, but answered at once.

"No, current too strong. We come this far through swamp. I paddle so
when I take little sister up-river. That place whar Gabe stand hide
entrance to swamp."

"And how long do you suppose it would take Gabe, if he started right
away, to get back to the settlement?" Phil continued.

"After sundown, an' afore dark," t