had half respected. "Honey!" he whispered
contemptuously. "What a name for that little beast!"

At the rocks Eddie was waiting with Stopper, upon whom they hurriedly
packed the beds and Bud's luggage. They spoke in whispers when they
spoke at all, and to insure the horse's remaining quiet Eddie had tied a
cotton rope snugly around its muzzle.

"I'll take Pop," Bud whispered, but Jerry shook his head and once more
shouldered the old fellow as he would carry a bag of grain. So they
slipped back down the trail, took a turn which Bud did not know, and
presently Bud found that Jerry was keeping straight on. Bud made an
Indian sign on the chance that Jerry would understand it, and with his
free hand Jerry replied. He was taking Pop somewhere. They were to wait
for him when they had reached the horses. So they separated for a space.

"This is sure a great country for hideouts, Mr. Birnie," Eddie ventured
when they had put half a mile between themselves and Little Lost, and
had come upon Smoky, Sunfish and Eddie's horse feeding quietly in a
tiny, spring-watered basin half surrounded with rocks. "If you know the
country you can keep dodgin' sheriffs all your life--if you just have
grub enough to last."

"Looks to me as if there aren't many wasted opportunities here," Bud
answered with some irony. "Is there an honest man in the whole country,
Ed? I'd just like to know."

Eddie hesitated, his eyes anxiously trying to read Bud's meaning and his
mood. "Not right around the Sinks, I guess," he replied truthfully. "Up
at Crater there are some, and over to Jumpoff. But I guess this valley
would be called pretty tough, all right. It's so full of caves and
queer places it kinda attracts the ones that want to hide out." Then he
grinned. "It's lucky for you it's like that, Mr. Birnie, or I don't see
how you'd get away. Now I can show you how to get clear away from here
without getting caught. But I guess we ought to have breakfast first.
I'm pretty hungry. Ain't you? I can build a fire against that crack in
the ledge over there, and the smoke will go away back underneath so
it won't show. There's a blow-hole somewhere that draws smoke like a
chimney."

Jerry came after a little, sniffing bacon. He threw himself down beside
the fire and drew a long breath. "That old skunk's heavier than what you
might think," he observed whimsically. "I packed him down into one of
them sink holes and untied his feet and left him to scramble out best