"That hurts, doesn't it?" solicitously inquired Jack.
"Not much," bravely protested Tom. "The most trouble is that I can shut
the front teeth, but the back ones don't seem to meet by half an inch or
more. The jaw must be dislocated."
In spite of their sympathy the boys could not restrain a laugh.
"I guess that if your front teeth come together your back ones meet,"
Jack assured the injured boy. "Let's look for Wyckoff."
"You mean let's look for Wyckoff's remains!" Harry tried to put in, but
he was stopped by a gesture from Frank.
"Let's not make it any more horrible than it is. That man is desperate
and I'm afraid of him," he whispered as they helped Tom to his feet and
started away in the direction taken by the outlaw.
"I can't see him anywhere," Harry asserted. "I'll bet Rowdy has eaten
him up body, boots and breeches. Serve him right, too!"
"We're the bloodthirsty bunch!" declared Jack. "It must be some quality
in the atmosphere down here. This is the old region infested by Captain
Kidd and his buccaneers. They must have left something in the way of a
piratical germ in the atmosphere."
"Maybe so, but I'd like to find that dog just now," stoutly declared
Harry. "He's had one big meal even if the quality was poor."
"Follow his tracks," suggested Frank. "That's easy in this sand. See,
here they go. My word, but he was taking long jumps."
"He left in such a hurry that he didn't take my automatic," declared
Tom. "I guess when he hit me or kicked me I must have closed on the
trigger and started the thing going.
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