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It was while Mickey was on the lookout for him that he caught sight of the steam man coming toward him, as we have related in another place.
This could not have been the cord which held the blanket when the shot of Mickey O'Rooney cut it and let the bundle drop, for that was much smaller, while this was sufficient to bear a weight of several hundred pounds, it having been used to lasso the fleet-footed and powerful mustangs of the prairies.
'Thar be some of the skunks that are creep-in 'long shore, said he; 'you'd better run in under this yar tree and hold fast awhile. The warning was heeded. Just below them, the luxuriant branches of an oak, dipped in the current, formed an impenetrable screen. As the log, guided thither, floated beneath this, Mickey and Ethan both caught hold of the branches and held themselves motionless.
He had previously so located and described the opening by which they expected to leave the pass, that Mickey was sure he would recognize it the instant they came in sight of it.
Upon reaching the top of the ridge, the horse was reined up for a few minutes, as Mickey, like the mariner at sea, was desirous of taking an observation, so as to prevent himself going astray. "Can you remember how you were placed?" asked the lad, after he had spent several minutes in the survey; "that is, do you know which way to go for the horse you left eating grass?"
Matters, for the moment, were brought to a stand still. "They'll be back again," added Mickey, after reloading his piece, "and, as they mean to have our topknots, as the hunters say, we'll wipe out as many as we kin before they git them. And now, me laddy, will ye allow me to make a suggestion?" "What is it?" "That ye kaap a little more out of raich.
He frequently paused as if resting, and this fact led the lad to feel more hopeful than ever that it was his old friend drawing near. When it became apparent that he was near the top, the curiosity of Fred became so great that he drew himself forward, and, peering down the black throat of the cave, asked, in a whisper: "I say, Mickey, is that you? Speak, if it is, or give a little whistle."
'Blest if I didn't think he was going to keep us wandering in this blessed Nulla Mountain all day. I wish I'd never seen the blessed cattle. I was only waiting for you to hook it when we first seen the brands by daylight, and I'd ha' been off like a brindle "Mickey" down a range. 'Better for us if we had, I said; 'but it's too late now. We must stick to it, I suppose.
I know I intinded to give it to Mickey O'Murry, but I'll niver tell ye whether I did give it to him, an' if I did, there's no knowin' av he posted it. 'Tis a difficult thing to remember, this letther-postin' and maybe he forgot." "But what did you write on the envelope? Can't you remember what you wrote?"
None of them rose to their feet, however, and Mickey and Fred moved about, inspecting them as best they could in the moonlight, with the purpose of selecting the best. "They're all a fine lot, as the neighbors used to say, after inspicting me father's family, and it's hard to make up your mind which is the best, but here is one that shtrikes me fancy. Get up wid ye."