They laughed and shook hands again.

"At any rate, we're here together again, safe and unharmed," said Ned.
"And now to see what has become of the Panther."

"You'd better be lookin' out for yourselves instead of the Panther,"
growled a voice, as a gigantic figure upheaved itself from the arroyo
eight or ten yards behind them. "I could have picked you both off while
you were standin' there shakin' hands, an' neither of you would never
have knowed what struck him."

"The Panther!" they exclaimed joyously, and they shook hands with him
also.

"An' now," said the Panther, "it will soon be day. We'd better make fur
our horses an' then clear out. We kin tell 'bout what we've seen an'
done when we're two or three miles away."

They found the horses safe in the brushwood, Old Jack welcoming Ned with
a soft whinny. They were in the saddle at once, rode swiftly northward,
and none of them spoke for a half hour. When a faint tinge of gray
appeared on the eastern rim of the world the Panther said:

"My tale's short. I couldn't get into the camp, 'cause I'm too big. The
very first fellow I saw looked at me with s'picion painted all over him.
So I had to keep back in the darkness. But I saw it was a mighty big
army. It can do a lot of rippin', an' t'arin', an' chawin'."

"I got into the camp," said Obed, after a minute of silence, "but as I'm