Hugh seemed to have pretty fair confidence in Jim's judgment.

"He's a clever chap," he remarked, "and will know just where to
draw the line. I could that already he had drawn upon his imagination
to supply him with something in place of facts. It'll be a thrilling
bit of reading, and ought to give our pet aversion a cold shiver
when he gets its import. Having Marshal Hastings come away up here
after him will upset all Brother Lu's plans for a soft berth during
the remainder of his fast-ebbing life; and he may suddenly determine
that it's better to run away and live to eat another day, than to
try and stick it out here, and be landed in a Texas jail."

"It'll seem an awful long time till tomorrow comes," sighed the
impatient Thad. "We told him we'd be around by nine in the morning,
didn't we? Well, let's call it eight-and-a-half, then. He may
be able to get off earlier than he expects, and that would cut Brother
Lu out of another meal at the expense of Matilda, whose supplies must
be running low by now, I should judge, and her money ditto in the
bargain."

"Have it your own way, Thad, and drop in for me," said Hugh. "In the
midst of all this fuss and feathers over that miserable hobo, we
mustn't forget we promised to be on hand in the afternoon to play
on the team against Mechanicsville; for you know there has been a
switch, and the programme changed. That team is considered a
strong aggregation from the mills over there, and, we may get our
fingers burned unless we are careful. After knocking Belleville
down last Saturday, it would look bad for Scranton to be snowed
under by an outside nine without any reputation, as they have hardly
played together this season so far."