I cut for the place where the Injuns seemed thinnest, lifting
myself up till I didn't weigh fifteen pound, and breathing only
when necessary. We got along first-rate until we reached the edge
of 'em, and then Laddy had to stick his foot in a gopher-hole, and
walloped around there like a whale trying to climb a tree.

Some dam cuss of an Injun threw a handful of hay on the fire, and,
as it blazed up, the whole gang spotted me.

I unlimbered my gun, sent the irons into Laddy, and we began to
walk.

I didn't like to make for the ranch, as I knew the boys were
short-handed, so I pointed north, praying to the good Lord that I'd
hit some kind of settlement before I struck the North Pole.

Well, we left those Injuns so far behind that there wasn't any fun
in it. I slacked up, patting myself on the back; and, as the
trouble seemed all over, I was just about to turn for the ranch,
when I heard horses galloping, and as the moon came out a little I
saw a whole raft of redskins a-boiling up a draw not half a mile
away. That knocked me slab-sided. It looked like I got the wrong
ticket every time the wheel turned.

I whooped it up again, swearing I wouldn't stop this deal short of
a dead sure thing. We flew through space--Laddy pushing a hole in
the air like a scart kiyote making for home and mother.

A ways down the valley I spotted a little shack sitting all alone