pless despair.

Swiftly his captor bore Leather up the side of the hill till he got
behind a clump of trees, into the heart of which he plunged, and then
set his burden down on his feet. At the same time, throwing back his
hood and flinging away the horse-cloth, he stood up and smiled.

"Hunky Ben, or his ghost!" exclaimed Shank, forgetting his indignation
in his amazement.

"You're right, young man, though you've only see'd me once that I know
of. But most men that see me once are apt to remember me."

"Well, Hunky," said Leather, while the indignation began to return, "you
may think this very amusing, but it's mean of a big strong man like you
to take advantage of a fellow that's as weak as a child from wounds an'
fever. Lend me one o' your six-shooters, now, so as we may stand on
somewhat more equal terms and--but a truce to boasting! I'm sure that
you wouldn't keep smiling at me like a Cheshire cat if there wasn't
something behind this."

"You're right, Mr Leather," said Ben, becoming at once grave and
earnest. "There _is_ somethin' behind it--ay, an' somethin' before it
too. So much, that I have barely time to tell 'ee. So, listen wi' both
ears. There's a bunch o' men an' troops close to the Trap even now, on
their way to visit your cave. If they find you--you know what that
means?"

"Death," said Leather quietly.

"Ay, death; though ye don't desarve it," said Ben.

"But I _do_ deserve it," returned Shank in the same quiet voice.

"Well, may-hap you do," rejoined the scout coolly, "but not, so far as I
know, in connection wi' your present company. Now, there's Buck Tom--"

"Ay, what of him?" asked Shank, anxiously.

"Well, in the nat'ral course o' timings, death is comin' to him too, an'
that'll save him from bein' strung up--for they're apt to do that sort
o' thing hereaway in a loose free-an-easy style that's awkward sometime.
I was within an inch of it myself once, all through a mistake--I'll
tell 'ee about that when I've got more time, maybe. Well, now, I'm keen
to save you an' Buck Tom if I can, and what I want you to understand is,
that if you expect me to help you at a time when you stand considerable
in need o' help, you'll have to do what I tell 'ee."

"And what would you have me do?" asked Shank, with a troubled look.

"Remain here till I come for 'ee, and when you meet me in company say
nothin' about havin' met me before."

"Can I trust you, Hunky Ben?" said Shank, looking at h