"
"That's all right," nodded the cook doggedly. "I've seen men
lose their minds out here in these gold fields."
They were now in camp.
"Wait, and I'll call Ferrers and a few of the men, Leon," Tom
proposed.
"What for? To stand guard?"
"No; we must send back a few of the men to find that man you wounded.
It was Eb. He fell in a heap. If his own companions didn't
carry him away he was left in a bad fix."
"You'll be going back to nurse rattlesnakes yet!" almost exploded
the cook.
"That's all right, but we're going to find that wounded man if
he's in need of help," Tom stoutly maintained.
He called Jim Ferrers, who roused five more men. Then the party
returned to the place on the trail where Eb had been left. There
were still blood spots on the ground, but Eb had vanished. The
party spent some minutes in searching the vicinity, then concluded
that Gage had rescued and carried away the wounded man.
It may be said, in passing, that Eb was subsequently found, by
officers, lying in a shack not far from Dugout City.
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