CHAPTER XI.

THE RIDE THROUGH BLAZED ACRE.

Little Snap hesitated a moment before replying to this rather broken speech, during which time Ab Raggles moved restlessly to and fro.

"Yit's a bit likely to brung ye trubble, I'll 'low, younker, but th' boy an' I'll stand by ye like fun. Yit's th' only way fer ye to git home."

"What motive have you, a stranger to me, to offer to do this?" asked the postboy.

"Motif? Didn't ye kem to our risky yesterday? The Raggles may be pore cattle, but they ain't them es fergits their friends."

"But I did you no service. How was it you escaped from that cave so easily?"

"'Twan't easy, younker. Ye see we fell kerslap inter thet sink, but th' water wuz deep 'nough, so we weren't hurt, an' findin' there wuz chance, we swum 'way in an underground stream, which kem out lower down in th' valler. We weren't hurted; hope ye weren't, younker. See?"

The explanation seemed plausible, and Little Snap knew that if he decided to accept the proffered assistance of his guides he must not delay if he wished to get beyond Blazed Acre before dark. Thus he questioned Ab Raggles more closely in regard to the route, finally deciding to go that way.

A short distance above, the mountaineer led the advance into the forest, following a narrow pathway leading over the mountainside. Little Snap had often noticed this well-worn track, and wondered where it led.

It was barely wide enough to admit the passage of a horseman, so our party was obliged to go in single file, Ab Raggles in front, carrying his long, rusty-looking firearm slung across his left arm, Beeline bringing up the rear, his weapon of defense being simply a stout club.

Not a word was spoken as they slowly wended their way in and out among the dark clumps of stunted forest growth, or around huge piles of rocks and steep bluffs of earth and stone, until at last the backbone of the heights had been reached, and they were in plain sight of the descent reaching away to the region of the Blazed Acre.

"Mebbe yit'll be best fer us not to strike the settlement till after dark," said Ab Raggles, "an' mebbe we sh'n't ef we keep pushin' on."

"Let us keep moving," replied Little Snap, "but keep our eyes open."

The country was less rugged on this slope of the mountains, so they advanced more rapidly, though the shades of night were beginning to fall as at last the isolated settlement of the Burrnocks and their associates was seen half a mile away.

Little Snap had never been in that vicinity before, so he looked with curious gaze upon the place. The dwellings of these people deserved no better name than huts, for the most of them were made of sods and boughs of trees. These rude habitations were arranged in a semicircle, standing on the north side of the clearing, and facing the south.

At the farther side could be seen a corral containing such horses as the community owned; but what struck Little Snap the most forcibly was the number of dogs running about, yelping at each other and jumping to and fro in their wild freedom.

It was getting too dark to see anything with distinctness, even had the postboy time to watch the scene long. They had stopped on a knob of earth high enough to look quite over the level land making up the Acre, but as soon as they resumed their course, all this was lost to their sight.

"Our path passes jess to th' right o' th' village," whispered Ab Raggles, "an' we hev got to move moughty sly to slip by 'em. I don't s'pose yit'd be bes' fer 'em goslings o' Bird Burrnock to ketch eyes on me. Yit mought not be healthy fer somebuddy."

Little Snap had noticed that as they neared the settlement Raggles had begun to show uneasiness, which increased as they advanced. He no longer carried his firearm in the hollow of his arm, but held it low upon his other side, as if wishing to conceal it from the gaze of any chance person they might meet. He realized that he could depend very little upon the Raggles in case of an attack from his enemies.

Suddenly the sound of footsteps fell on their ears, when the older guide dropped to the ground as quickly as if he had been shot, his son imitating his example the next moment.

Little Snap reined in Jack in season to avoid having him step on the prostrate figure of Ab Raggles, while at the same time the form of a man burst through the bushes into plain sight.

"Hello!" exclaimed the stranger. "Who mought ye be who invades these peaceful regions?"

"A friend," replied the postboy; "belated in my journey over the mountains."

"Who in the name of darkness air ye who knows th' way?" and the speaker stepped nearer to get a better view of the boyish rider.

It was too dark for him to distinguish Little Snap's features. At any rate, he did not seem to recognize him.

"My name is Lewis, and I live beyond Daring's Diamond."

"Purty late ridin'," muttered the man, passing on, without further words, much to our hero's relief.

Little Snap resolved to get away from that vicinity as speedily as possible, and he turned to request Raggles to go on, when he was surprised to find the mountaineer missing!

Neither was Beeline Raggles to be seen!

As brief as had been his interview with the stranger, this pair had managed somehow to get away unobserved by him. He did not think it best to call to them, and, though at a loss to account for this singular conduct, he felt that it would make little difference to him. He had seen enough to know they would be of no real assistance in case he should meet the Burrnocks.

Though it was now quite dark in the shades of the growth, he believed he would have little difficulty in finding his way to Hollow Tree, and he urged Jack forward without delay.

Dim lights from the dwellings of the inhabitants of Blazed Acre were springing up on his left, and he hadn't gone far before a confused sound of voices was borne to him on the still air.

"Faster, Jack!" he whispered, as the path swung around a clump of live oaks to come in full sight of the village. "On, my boy!"

Breaking into a trot, the horse and his rider quickly gained the cover of the forest again, where it was difficult to follow the winding course of the path.

But anxious to get away before the inhabitants of Blazed Acre, whom he felt sure would pursue him had they learned he was in the vicinity, he continued to urge Jack onward at a smart trot, until there came a sudden ending to his retreat.

Without the least warning, Jack stumbled and fell headlong to the earth, Little Snap at the same time being flung over his head and into the bushes several yards away!