"Wal, I don't like the looks of them fellars," he declared.
Neale likewise took an unfavorable view of the visit, but Larry
scouted the idea of there being any danger in a gang like that.
"Shore they'd be afraid of a man," he declared.
"Red, can you look at men and tell whether or not there's danger in
them?" inquired Neale.
"I shore can. One man could bluff thet outfit.... But I reckon I'd
hate to have them find Allie aboot heah alone."
"I can take care of myself," spoke up Allie, spiritedly.
Neale and Slingerland, for all their respect for the cowboy's
judgment, regarded the advent of these visitors as a forerunner of
an evil time for lonely trappers.
"I'll hev to move back deeper in the mountains, away from the
railroad," said Slingerland.
This incident also put a different light upon the intention Neale
had of hunting for the buried gold. Just now he certainly did not
want to risk being seen digging gold or packing it away; and
Slingerland was just as loath to have it concealed in or near his
cabin.
"Wal, seein' we're not sure it's really there, let's wait till you
come back in summer or fall," he suggested. "If it's thar it'll stay
thar."
All too soon the dawn came for Neale's departure with Larry. Allie
was braver than he. At the last he was white and shaken.
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