To all of Bob's questions
and commands he turned a deaf ear, until, finally, seeing it was useless
to ask, Bob fell silent. Only once did he pause, and then to breathe and
water the horses. The country through which they passed was unfamiliar
to Bob. He knew only that they were going north, and were keeping to
westward of the Second Ranges.
Late that evening Saleratus Bill halted for the night at a little
meadow. He fed Bob a thick sandwich, and offered him a cup of water;
after which he again shackled the young man's ankles, bound his elbows,
and attached the helpless form to a tree. Bob spent the night in this
case, covered only by his saddle blanket. The cords cut into his swelled
flesh, the retarded circulation pricked him cruelly. He slept little. At
early dawn his captor offered him the same fare. By sun-up they were
under way again.
All that day they angled to the northwest. The pine forests gave way to
oaks, buckthorn, chaparral, as they entered lower country. Several times
Saleratus Bill made long detours to avoid clearings and ranches. Bob, in
spite of his strength and the excellence of his condition, reeled from
sheer weariness and pain.
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