“Sure,” Willie answered, pouring hot chocolate. “But you’ve been gone a long while. Look at the sun.”
“Did you find the burro?” Ken questioned.
Jack disgustedly admitted his failure.
“I guess I didn’t use my head,” he confessed ruefully. “I thought I could find High Hat and at the same time learn if Captain Carter has been following us.”
“We’ll have to worry along without the burro,” Mr. Livingston said. “I know you went after the animal with the best of intentions, Jack, but it was a risky thing to do.”
“I realize that now.”
“Henceforth, the rule must be that no one is to leave camp alone or without permission.”
“I’ll remember,” Jack promised. “Since we’re not in hostile Indian country yet, I didn’t think there would be any danger.”
“On these trails anything can happen. You might take a bad fall and have no one to help you. Or you might have run into trouble with those campers below. Also, we can’t tell how the natives will treat us, even in this area.”
“We’ve scarcely seen a native since we left Cuya,” remarked War.