“He’s hoping that another of the same kind will come, and try it on, Frank,” Bob declared, with a merry laugh.
“Well, then, he’s going to be badly disappointed,” the other replied; “because those fellows are miles away by now, and still going licketty-split to get out of this section. It’s some warm here for their breed. Even the horses are hungry to take a grab at ’em.”
Accordingly both boys crawled under the little shelter, which Frank called a “dog tent,” from having seen the regulars of the army fashion just such a rain-proof from a couple of rubber ponchos, under which two soldiers could keep the upper parts of their bodies from much of the moisture.
It took Bob a long time to get to sleep again. He was not used to such exciting sessions in the night; and, despite his determination to forget, he tossed and turned for almost an hour before slumbering.
Frank, on the other hand, seemed to be asleep inside of five minutes after his head rested on the pillow made of his saddlebags. Nor did either of them show signs of uneasiness after Bob finally managed to conquer his wakefulness, until the dawn came and aroused Frank.
“Hope we can make the mine by to-night,” remarked Bob, as they sat there a little later, enjoying their breakfast, which consisted of coffee and venison; and of course this fresh meat tasted all the sweeter to Bob because it had fallen to his gun.
“With anything like decent luck we ought to show up there,” Frank observed. “And the closer we get to the Cherry Blossom district the more I find myself wondering what sort of trouble we’re going to find ourselves up against.”
“You must remember that I’ve never visited the mine, Frank, even if my father does hold a lot of the stock, and in conjunction with your family controls the operation of the works. Who’s the foreman or superintendent in charge?”
“A man by the name of Gustave Riley is superintendent, and he’s been in charge for a long time now,” Frank replied.
“Your father trusts him, then?” pursued the other; for truth to tell, Bob expected some day to become a lawyer, and he often showed signs of the profession even now, by investigating, questioning, and figuring out results.