kindled the fire,
helped picket McHale's horses, and set the coffee-pot to boil. They
drank coffee and smoked, going into details of their experiences of the
preceding day. McHale was amazed to hear of Sandy's arrest by Glass,
whom he had held in contempt. Sandy was jubilant over the shooting of
Cross, regretful that he had not had a hand in it.

"You won't be so durn stuck on a gun fight after you've been in one or
two," said McHale grimly. "Now let's see how she stacks up. I'm goin'
to hide out for a spell, but if I was you I'd go back and stand the
racket."

"I guess _not_," said Sandy positively. "I don't want to do time if
they've got me with the goods. And then some darn lawyer might make me
give somebody else away by accident. You can't tell. I'll stay out with
you. Where are you heading for?"

"I was aimin' to hit Bull's Pass, drop over the summit into the valley
of the Klimminchuck, and camp somewheres. There was two trappers in
there winter before last, and they told me they built them a right good
cabin."

"That suits me."

"This will fix us up with water for the next two weeks," said McHale as
he listened to the rain. "I'll bet Casey's got a grin on him a yard
wide." He yawned. "Well, kid, we've got all that's comin' to us out of
this one day. Let's hit them blankets. We better make an early start."

They were up in the early dawn, breakfasted, saddled, and packed, and
headed for the hills. At noon they reached the foot of the pass. A
narrow trail, often choked by fallen timber and small landslides, led
them upward, winding in and out, sometimes near the bottom of an always
ascending gorge, sometimes forsaking it for broad, flat benches
parklike with stately trees, sometimes clinging precariously to
shoulders of bare rock where a slip would have been fatal.

They camped that night near the summit, and next day dropped down into
a valley, narrow, wooded, picturesque, where the Klimminchuck raced
southward; and, following its course, camped at the edge of a beaver
meadow, feasting on trout fresh caught from a deep pool beneath a short
fall. And in the morning, still following the stream, they came to the
trappers' cabin, set in a grove of young spruce.

It was built of small logs chinked with moss and clay, and most of the
chinking had fallen out. Its roof was of poles covered with earth. A
two-man bunk occupied much of the interior. The remainder was taken up
by a rough table, a bench, and a rusty w