He purchased a bill of goods from Brackton, and, with Creech helping, carried
it up to the cabin under the bluff. Three trips were needed to pack up all the
supplies, and meanwhile Creech had but few words to say, and these of no
moment. Slone offered him money, which he refused.
"I'll help you fix up, an' eat a bite," he said. "Nice up hyar."
He seemed rational enough and certainly responded to kindness. Slone found
that Vorhees had left the cabin so clean there was little cleaning to do. An
open fireplace of stone required some repair and there was wood to cut.
"Joel, you start a fire while I go down after my horses," said Slone.
Young Creech nodded and Slone left him there. It was not easy to catch
Wildfire, nor any easier to get him into the new corral; but at last Slone saw
him safely there. And the bars and locks on the gate might have defied any
effort to open or break them quickly. Creech was standing in the doorway,
watching the horses, and somehow Slone saw, or imagined he saw, that Creech
wore a different aspect.
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