“Well, maybe not, but you know as well as me that it won’t do to trust him further than you can see him.”
“I tell you, Baker, what will be better,” spoke up Strubell, like a man with a new and brilliant idea; “we’ll send the boys ahead to the spring with the pack horses, while we wait here and find out just what Bell is up to.”
“That is a good plan,” added Lattin heartily; “let’s do it.”
The Texans now turned to Nick and Herbert, as though they did not suspect they had caught any of the conversation.
“Boys, we want to watch Bell and the others for a while, and have made up our minds to let you ride some distance over the trail, while we stay here and watch. I have proposed it, and Baker agrees that the plan is a good one. You have no objections?”
It occurred to Nick to ask in what way it was likely to improve their eyesight and the power of the glasses, by sending him and Herbert off. Surely their presence or absence could not operate one way or the other. The proposition was not very profound or bright, but, keeping back his thoughts, he promptly answered:
“Herbert and I are always ready to do cheerfully whatever you decide is best for us.”
“Thanks!—spoken like a man. Now, you see the trail just beyond,” added Strubell, pointing to a faintly marked path; “it has been used since the days of old Moses Austin and Sam Houston, and is so plain that you can’t miss it. It leads into the hills for a quarter of a mile, and then turns north through a sort of valley. A little more than half a mile further, and you will come upon one of the prettiest springs of water in Texas. There’s where you will unsaddle and make camp for to-night.”
“When will you join us?”
“We hope to do so in the course of a few hours, but don’t be alarmed if you see nothing of us before morning.”