Down the Slope

"How long since you left him?"

"Yesterday noon."

"Have you been traveling all this time?"

"Pretty much; but it don't make any difference if you want to send after him."

"That is exactly what I want to do, and as soon as possible."

"I'm ready now," and Skip started toward the door.

"I didn't mean quite as soon as this. Go for something to eat, while I make the necessary arrangements. Come back here when you've had dinner."

"It'll be two or three dinners in one," Skip muttered, as he followed Fred down stairs.

"Didn't you take any provisions?"

"Some; but not enough to last a great while. It don't make any difference, though, so long as I found Tim."

Skip was not so excited but that he could eat a hearty meal, and when it was finished the two boys returned to Mr. Hunter's office just as that gentleman entered, accompanied by a constable.

The official questioned Skip very minutely as to Tim's whereabouts, and when the boy had explained the situation to the best of his ability, the former said:

"I reckon we won't have to walk all the way. By riding up the valley road eight or ten miles it is possible to cut off a good bit of the distance."

"Very well, adopt any method which will insure your return to-morrow noon, for the trial is to come off at twelve o'clock. Go with him, Skip, and see to it that there is no loitering by the way."

"Are you intending to hire a team?" Fred asked the constable.

"Yes."

"Then I'll go with you to the stables."

The constable walked rapidly ahead leaving the boys to follow more leisurely, and Fred had time for a brief conversation.

"You've been a good friend, Skip, and none of us will ever forget what you've done."

"I don't want you to remember what happened while I was boss of the regulators."

"We never think of it. Now do you believe it is possible to go to the camp and back by noon?"

"It'll be a tight squeeze, even allowin' that we ride a good part of the way; but we'll pull through somehow."

"Then if Tim has run off, all your work will have been for nothing."

"It can't be helped if things turn that way; but I think he's too much frightened by the disappearance of Gus to leave a good hiding-place."

At this moment the officer emerged from the stable in an open wagon drawn by a powerful-looking horse, and Skip shouted, as he clambered in:

"We'll be back by noon."

Then the two were whirled rapidly away, and Fred walked slowly to Mr. Hunter's office depressed by a sense of impending evil.

The lawyer was absent, and, not caring to stroll around the town where he might meet acquaintances from Farley's, the boy remained alone until late in the afternoon, when Joe and Sam arrived.

"The trial is to come off to-morrow," he cried, mentioning first that subject which was nearest his heart.

"And you couldn't find Skip," Joe added, mournfully; but his face lighted up wonderfully on being told of what had occurred during his absence.

"We'll come out of the scrape all right, if one of the young scoundrels can be produced, so you an' Sam may as well look cheerful."

"Is there anything new at Farley's?" Fred asked.

"Wright is goin' around like a bear with a sore head; but I didn't hear anything about his servin' the warrant on you. I reckon neither him nor that blessed cashier fancy havin' the trial come off so soon."

"How is Bill?"

"Chipper as a chicken. Your mother has sent some clean clothes, an' we'd better mosey over to the hotel to make ourselves comfortable like."

Before any objection could be offered to this plan Mr. Hunter entered; but he did not delay the partners very long. After asking a few questions and jotting down the answers, he dismissed them with the caution to be at the office by eleven o'clock next morning.

During the evening Joe tried very hard to appear jolly and perfectly at ease; but the boys could not simulate cheerfulness, and the hours passed wearily despite their companion's efforts.

At an early hour Fred and Sam were on the road down which Skip had driven, waiting for his return; but when the appointed time for them to go to Mr. Hunter's office arrived, they had watched in vain.

Now the suspense was positively painful. The lawyer exhibited the utmost impatience, because the constable did not come, while his clients were on the verge of despair.

At half-past eleven when the train from Farley's arrived, the boys saw Mr. Wright and the cashier pass on their way to the court-room, and a few moments later Mr. Hunter said:

"We can't wait any longer. Very likely Tim had left his hiding-place when the officer got there, and the latter is so foolish as to try to find him. I should have warned them that Skip must return at all hazards, for by sending him away we lose a most important witness."

The boys arose to their feet in silence, and Joe was positively despondent in the face of what seemed very like defeat.

On arriving at the court the partners were given seats within the enclosure reserved for attorneys, and very near the superintendent; but he paid no attention to them.

The cashier glared fiercely at Sam for an instant, and then turned to look steadily in another direction.

The court was occupied with another case, and in answer to Sam's question Mr. Hunter said that his trial would not begin until it was finished.

"If it'll hold on 'till to-morrow so's to give Skip a fair chance of gettin' here, I'll be willin' to sit in this chair all night," Joe whispered to Fred.

"It can't be delayed very long, or Mr. Hunter would tell us," was the mournful reply.

"S'pose I slip out an' watch for him? He won't know where to come if there's nobody in the office."

This Fred thought was a very good idea, and he suggested it to the lawyer, who said:

"The constable knows that he is needed here, therefore they will put in an appearance immediately after arriving."