"
"Then suppose we whip up a little," said Dick.
Both Red Blaze and the sergeant gave him searching glances.
"Do you mean--" began Whitley.
"Yes, I mean it. I know it. The man in front wearing the fur cap is
Bill Skelly. He and his men made an attack upon the home of my uncle,
Colonel Kenton, who is a Southern leader in Kentucky. He and his band
were Northerners there, but they will be Southerners here, if it suits
their purpose."
"An' it will shorely suit their purpose to be Southerners now," said
Red Blaze. "We three are ridin' mighty good hoss flesh. Me an' the
sergeant have good rifles an' pistols, you have good pistols, an' we
all have good, big overcoats. This is a lonely mountain side with war
flyin' all about us. Easy's the place an' easy's the deed. That is
if we'd let 'em, which we ain't goin' to do."
"Not by a long shot," said Sergeant Whitley, resting his rifle across
the pommel of his saddle. "They've got to follow straight behind.
The ground is too rough for them to ride around an' flank us."
Dick said nothing, but his gauntleted hand moved down to the butt of one
of his pistols. His heart throbbed, but he preserved the appearance of
coolness. He was fast becoming inured to danger. Owing to the slope
they could not increase the speed of their horses greatly, but they were
beyond the mouth of the path before they were seen by Skelly and his
band. Then the big mountaineer uttered a great shout and began to wave
his hand at them.
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