Suddenly he wheeled sharply about, cocking the Winchester and
tossing it to his shoulder. Cribbens ran back to his side, whipping out
his revolver.
"What is it?" he cried. "See anybody?" He peered on ahead through the
gathering twilight.
"No, no."
"Hear anything?"
"No, didn't hear anything."
"What is it then? What's up?"
"I don' know, I don' know," muttered the dentist, lowering the rifle.
"There was something."
"What?"
"Something--didn't you notice?"
"Notice what?"
"I don' know. Something--something or other."
"Who? What? Notice what? What did you see?"
The dentist let down the hammer of the rifle.
"I guess it wasn't anything," he said rather foolishly.
"What d'you think you saw--anybody on the claim?"
"I didn't see anything. I didn't hear anything either. I had an idea,
that's all; came all of a sudden, like that. Something, I don' know
what."
"I guess you just imagined something. There ain't anybody within twenty
miles of us, I guess."
"Yes, I guess so, just imagined it, that's the word."
Half an hour later they had the fire going. McTeague was frying
strips of bacon over the coals, and Cribbens was still chattering and
exclaiming over their great strike.
Pages:
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486