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"I reckon there isn't much animal life left in these parts now, at any rate," Andy Sudds said. "I don't see what we're going to do if something doesn't turn up for food. We're going to be on short commons." Wash had set his "bird cage," as the oil man called the Shanghai's coop, within the warmth of the fire, and the rooster evidently felt the grateful glow of the flames.
They found the gate of the Widow of Shanghai's garden stretched wide open; a jinriksha was about to pass into the street. A Japanese lady in a rich costume was the occupant. She exchanged one swift glance with Billie and quickly looked the other way. Billie started slightly. She felt uncomfortable. It seemed to her that she had been looking straight into the eyes of Mme. Fontaine.
Those are the Endicott Mountains yonder," and he waved a hand at the darkness to the south of them. "Hark!" cried Andy Sudds, suddenly. There was a momentary lull in the wind. From below came the broken crowing of a cock in answer to the Shanghai's challenge. Then a dog barked. "There's a farmhouse down there," said the hunter. "What did I tell yo'?" cried Washington White.
"Up here in the air, Wash?" cried Jack. "Dunno whar dey is," said the darkey, doggedly. "Dar he crows ergin! Dar is suttenly critters ob his kind nearby yes sah!" It may have been the Shanghai's raucous tone that aroused Andy. The old hunter suddenly appeared on the platform behind the operator's seat, where the boys and Wash were clinging, and Andy brought his rifle with him. "Hullo!" he said.
"'Ello, Larry!" returned the other. "Aw, nuthin'! De nutcracker on Chang, dat's all." "I t'ought mabbe dey was lookin' for some guy dat was in dere," observed Jimmie Dale. "Nuthin' doin'!" the other answered. "I was in dere meself. De whole mob beat it clean, an' de bulls never batted an eye. Didn't youse pipe me make me get-away outer Shanghai's a minute ago?
But the Shanghai's feathers must have brushed against the levers, and that stopped the action of the Cardite motor. However, I'm glad it was no worse." "Yes, let's finish dinner now, if everything is all right," proposed Mark. "How did the rooster get in here?" asked Jack. "I 'spects dat's my fault," answered Washington.
"Papa, do you think she could have gone to that widow? I never told you, but she did once before when we had a quarrel. She was awfully sorry after the first night and came back." Mr. Campbell gave a low whistle. He had forgotten the Widow of Shanghai's very existence until that moment. "I hope she's there. That will make it much simpler. But you mustn't take on so, little daughter.
But he was "riled all up" now, and he feared for the Shanghai's safety. Up he jumped, threw down his rifle, and agilely leaped the fortification in the direction of the short Indian who had attracted his anger. He streaked it across the intervening space so quickly that the startled enemy did not even fire at him.
"I reckon everything's all right, Gabe," said Old Man Curry, who was counting money in his tackle-room. "It was sort o' risky. When a man can't tell his own hoss when he sees him, anything is liable to happen to him on a bush track. I've just cut this bank roll in two, Gabe, and here's your bit. Shanghai's a good bettin' commissioner, eh?"
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