"He went kinda crazy once before." "If he should take it into his head to bolt and keep on running----" Marcus did not finish.

A sudden great fear seemed to widen around and inclose the two men.

Once their water gone, the end would not be long.
"We can catch him all right," said the dentist.

"I caught him once before." "Oh, I guess we can catch him," answered Marcus, reassuringly.
Already the sense of enmity between the two had weakened in the face of a common peril.

Marcus let down the hammer of his revolver and slid it back into the holster.
The mule was trotting on ahead, snorting and throwing up great clouds of alkali dust.