He dished a rasher of bacon onto a tin plate, and placed it before her, with a clasp knife, a two-pronged cooking fork, and a big slice of bread, then told her to begin supper at once before the food got cold. But he made no attempt to explain his position, and Nell had a vexed sensation of having been snubbed because of her unwarrantable curiosity.
But the tea was good, despite the battered old tin mug in which it was served, and the bacon was nice to one so hungry as Nell, although, if her appetite had not been so keen, she might have objected to it being scorched black on one side and nearly raw on the other.
When she had taken the sharpest edge from her hunger and thirst, she suddenly became aware that her host was eating nothing, but just sitting on another stone and watching her feed.
“Oh, I am so sorry; it is your supper I am taking, and you have nothing!” she exclaimed.
“Not a bit of it. There are provisions in plenty; it is only the implements which are wanting,” he replied, with a laugh. “You see, there is only one mug, which is kettle, teapot, and teacup all rolled into one; and it is the same with the knife, fork, and plate. However, there is no need to worry, for I am not very hungry to-night, as I had some lunch in the middle of the day, a very unusual thing for me when on tramp, for then, as a rule, I make two good square meals suffice for twenty-four hours.”
Nell finished her supper in a great hurry.
“Now I will cook for you,” she said hastily. “Then, when you have eaten, you will perhaps be so very kind as to show me the way to the depot at Camp’s Gulch, for they will be getting in a fearful state of worry about me.”
“I can show you so far as the Settlement; but after that I fear you will have to be the guide, for I have only come that way once—nearly a year ago—so I can’t be very sure of my road.”
“If you can guide me to the Settlement that is all I shall need, thank you. I know the road perfectly from there,” she answered.
“I hope you don’t suppose that I should let you go all that long way alone. You have had quite enough in the way of adventures for one day, I fancy. But sit still and rest. I shall not be more than ten minutes or a quarter of an hour before I am ready to take the road; and you will travel all the better for the pause,” he said, as he brewed himself another mug of tea and began to eat a hunch of bread.