Davis has got fifty men scouring the country, I bet.
I been sent on to Lonesomeville to head him off if he tries to take a
train. He's a purty desperate character, they say, too, Scott. Say,
gimme a lift as far as you're agoin', won't you?"
"I--I--well, I reckon so," floundered the helpless Higgins.
"Really, this is getting a bit serious," whispered Crosby to his
breathless companion.
The deputy was now on the seat with Higgins, and the latter, bewildered
and dismayed beyond expression, was urging his horses into their fastest
trot.
"How far is it to Lonesomeville?" asked the deputy.
"'Bout two mile."
"It'll rain before we get there," said the other significantly.
"I'm not afeared of rain," said Higgins.
"What are you goin' over there this time o' night for?" asked the other.
"You ain't got much of a load."
"I'm--I'm takin' some meat over to Mr. Talbert."
"Hams?"
"No; jest bacon," answered Scott, and his two hearers in the wagon-bed
laughed silently.
"Not many people out a night like this," volunteered the deputy.
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