"Honest!" laughed Simms. "Some cowboy friends o’ mine licked the gang. Didn’t you hear that dynamite go off? If they hadn’t fished it out from under your feet you ’d be communing with the angels ’bout now." For a moment there was no response, and then Jackson could be heard dragging things away from the door. When he was told of the cartridge and Red had been pointed out to him as the man who had saved his life, he leaped to the ground and ran to where that puncher was engaged in carrying the ever-silenced robbers to the baggage-car. He shook hands with Red, who laughed deprecatingly, and then turned and assisted him. Hopalong came up and grinned: "Say, there ’s some cayuses in that grove up th’ track; shall I go up an’ get ’em?" "Shore! I ’ll go an’ get ’em with you," replied Skinny. In the grove they found seven horses picketed, two of them being pack-animals, and they led them forth and reached the train as the others came up. "Well, here ’s five saddled cayuses, an’ two others," Skinny grinned. "Then we can ride th’ rest of th’ way in th’ saddle instead of in that blamed train," Red eagerly suggested. "That’s just what we can do," replied Skinny. "Leather beats car-seats any time. How far are we from Sandy Creek, Simms?" "About twenty miles." "An’ we can ride along th’ track, too," suggested Hopalong. "We shore can," laughed Skinny, shaking hands with the train-crew: "We ’re some glad we rode with you this trip: we ’ve had a fine time." "And we’re glad you did," Simms replied, "for that ain’t no joke, either." Hopalong and the others had mounted and were busy waving their sombreros and bowing to the heads and handkerchiefs which were decorating the car-windows. "All aboard!" shouted the conductor, and cheers and good wishes rang out and were replied to by bows and waving of sombreros. Then Hopalong jerked his gun loose and emptied it into the air, his companions doing likewise. Suddenly five reports rang out from the smoker and they cheered the fat man as he waved at them. They sat quietly and watched the train until the last handkerchief became lost to sight around a curve, but the screeching whistle could be heard for a long time. "Gee!" laughed Hopalong as they rode on after the train, "won’t th’ fellers home on th’ ranch be a whole lot sore when they hears about the good time what they missed!" XI SAMMY FINDS A FRIEND The long train ride and the excitement were over and the outfit, homeward bound, loped along the trail, noisily discussing their exciting and humorous experiences and laughingly commented upon Hopalong’s decision to follow them later. They could not understand why he should be interested in a town like Sandy Creek after a week spent in the city.