"Twenty miles would do me good."
Still Bill and Willie approached the gallery curiously, and in
subdued tones inquired:
"What's the matter, Mr. Speed?"
"You ain't been summoned away?" Willie stared questioningly
upward. "No, no! My running partner is on his way here, that's
all."
"Running pardner?"
"Culver Covington."
"Oh, we was afraid something had happened. You see, Gabby
Gallagher has just blowed in from the Centipede to raise our
bets."
"We think it's a bluff, and we'd like to call him."
"Do so, by all means!" cried the excited athlete. "Come on, let's
all talk to him!"
The entire party, with the exception of Mrs. Keap, trooped down
from the porch and followed the foreman out toward the sheds,
where, in the midst of a crowd of ranch-hands, a burly, loud-
voiced Texan was discoursing.
"I do wish Jack were here," said Jean nervously, on the way.
Gabby Gallagher seemed a fitting leader for such a desperate crew
as that of the Centipede, for he was the hardest-looking citizen
the Easterners had beheld thus far.
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