"I
paid a hundred dollars for the outfit in Boggs City," went on the
stranger nervously. "Some one make an offer--and quick! I'm in a rush!"
"I'll give five dollars!" said one of the onlookers with an apologetic
laugh. This was the match that started fire in the thrifty noddles of
Tinkletown's best citizens. Before they knew it they were bidding
against each other with the true "horse-swapping" instinct, and the
offers had reached $21.25 when the stranger unceremoniously closed the
sale by crying out, "Sold!" There is no telling how high the bids might
have gone if he could have waited half an hour or so. Uncle Gideon Luce
afterward said that he could have had twenty-four dollars "just as well
as not." They were bidding up a quarter at a time, and no one seemed
willing to drop out. The successful bidder was Anderson Crow.
"You can pay me as we drive along. Jump in!" cried the stranger, looking
at his watch with considerable agitation. "All I ask is that you drive
me to the foot-log that crosses the creek."
CHAPTER II
The Pursuit Begins
Fifteen minutes later Anderson Crow was parading proudly about the town.
He had taken the stranger to the creek and had seen him scurry across
the log to the opposite side, supplied with directions that would lead
him to the nearest route through the swamps and timberland to Crow's
Cliff.
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