"I may not lead straight, but I'll get you there," replied the Panther
confidently.

Roylston, at his own urgent insistence, dismounted and walked a little
while. When he betook himself again to the back of Old Jack he spoke
with quiet confidence.

"I'm regaining my strength rapidly," he said. "In a week or two I shall
be as good as I ever was. Meanwhile my debt to you, already great, is
accumulating."

The Panther laughed.

"You don't owe us nothin'," he said. "Why, on this frontier it's one
man's business to help another out of a scrape. If we didn't do that we
couldn't live."

"Nevertheless, I shall try to pay it," said Roylston, in significant
tones.

"For the moment we'll think of that hut we're lookin' for," said the
Panther.

"It will be more than a hut," said Will, who was of a singularly
cheerful nature. "I can see it now. It will be a gorgeous palace. Its
name will be the Inn of the Panther. Menials in gorgeous livery will
show us to our chambers, one for every man, where we will sleep between
white sheets of the finest linen."

"I wonder if they will let us take our rifles to bed with us," said Ned,