Chapter 10

“Hard tack. I still got enough to bring me back to town.” He took a square, half-chewed chunk of it from the pocket of his great coat. “And what did you live on, Hagger?” The sublime simplicity of this man kept Hagger from answering for a moment, and then he said: “I found a little chuck in this shack . . . ate that . . . shot a couple of rabbits.” “What’ll you live on now?” “Hope, kid,” grinned Hagger. The jeweler scanned the cabin with a swift glance, making sure of the vacant shelves and the moldy, tomblike empt…