If he ain't, he'll be at Devil Judd's at
daybreak if he ain't thar now."
"What do you want to do?"
"Go on down with the hosses, hide 'em in the bushes an' wait."
"Maybe he's already heard us coming down the mountain."
"That's the only thing I'm afeerd of," said the Falin calmly. "But
whut I'm tellin' you's our only chance."
"How do you know he won't hear us going down? Why not leave the
horses?"
"We might need the hosses, and hit's mud and sand all the way--you
ought to know that."
Hale did know that; so on they went quietly and hid their horses
aside from the road near the place where Hale had fished when he
first went to Lonesome Cove. There the Falin disappeared on foot.
"Do you trust him?" asked Hale, turning to Budd, and Budd laughed.
"I reckon you can trust a Falin against a friend of a Tolliver, or
t'other way round--any time." Within half an hour the Falin came
back with the news that there were no signs that the fugitive had
yet come in.
"No use surrounding the house now," he said, "he might see one of
us first when he comes in an' git away. We'll do that atter
daylight.
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