Hawk had to chuckle. “He was here all day. This is where he lives.” When Conner looked confused, Hawk explained, “I wondered about him, myself, earlier this afternoon, so I did a little scoutin’. He’s got a cave in the face of that cliff, hangin’ over the river. He crawls up and down a rope to get in and out of it. I found his rope tied around the foot of a pine where the trees run right up to the edge of the bluff. He had it covered up pretty good to keep anybody from seein’ it.”

“Well, I’ll be . . .” Conner started. “So that’s why he just appeared, and nobody knew where he came from. He ain’t a goblin after all,” he announced, laughing as he did. Then another thought occurred. “I wonder why he jumped in the river with Lewis and the others.”

“I expect he decided things were gettin’ too hot to stay here,” Hawk speculated. “And after he showed ’em how to get to Adam Wylie’s farm, he decided he might as well go with ’em to Fort Benton and get a good meal, especially after those outlaws made such a mess of his homeplace.”

“Maybe we should take him back to Fort Benton,” Conner said. “It doesn’t seem right to leave him out here in this wilderness.”

“I don’t know,” Hawk said. “I expect he’s been livin’ like this for most of his life. I reckon he’s just another wild thing livin’ in the woods—most likely prefers it to livin’ with people. If it was up to me, I’d say leave it up to him.”

“I guess you’re right,” Conner said. “At any rate, we’ll find out in the morning, because I expect he’ll just hop on the wagon if he wants to go back with the others.” He turned to follow the rest of his soldiers back down the trail to the road. “You coming?”