"Struck luck," he explained. "Met a feller as had more coffee nor he wanted. Sez he, 'Got any terbacker to spare?' Sez I, 'Got any coffee ter spare?' An' then we made a dicker. It's putty good coffee, too, by the smell," and it was good, as they soon afterwards learned.
Four days of traveling found the boys and Maybe Dixon well on their way. The rolling prairies were ahead and behind them, and not far away the river glistened brightly in the sunshine. They had come up to Josiah Socket and his family and that individual was glad to see them.
"Might as well travel along with them as knows you," said Socket, and kept on directly behind the boys. Mrs. Socket was also glad to see them and it was all they could do to steer clear of the everlasting clatter of her tongue.
"She means well, but her tongue would be the death of me," said Bob. "Puts me in mind of a windmill that never stops." Yet as the days went by and they got further and further west the woman quieted down greatly, much to the satisfaction of all around her.
On Saturday night the boys went into camp close to the Platte, at a pleasant spot where there was an inlet and a grove of trees. Here in a convenient shelter they took a bath and rested.
"We'll feel as fresh as ever by Monday morning," said Mark. "And Darling will feel rested too."
"Monday mornin'?" queried Maybe Dixon. "Don't ye calkerlate to move on Sunday?"
"No, we are not going to travel on Sunday," answered Bob. He had settled this point with Si and Mark the day previous.
"Well! Thar ain't many a-restin'."
"We shall," put in Mark. "You can go ahead if you wish. Don't let us keep you."