II
AT THE FIRESIDE
“
Well, well, young men!” broke out a hearty voice, not long after our young friends had completed their evening’s work and were seated near the fire. “How are you getting on? Are the mosquitoes pretty bad?”
“Hello, Uncle Dick!” answered John. “We thought it was about time for you to be coming up.”
“And about mosquitoes,” answered Jesse, brushing at his face, “I should say they were pretty bad for early spring.”
“Well, I’m glad to be in for the day,” remarked the tall, lean-looking man they all called Uncle Dick—the friend to whom they owed so many pleasant and adventurous journeys in out-of-the-way parts of the country. He was dressed as the men of the engineers usually were in the rough preliminary survey work. He wore a wide white hat, flannel shirt, loose woolen clothing, and high laced boots. His face was burned brown with the suns of many lands, but his blue eyes twinkled with a kindly light, which explained why all of these boys were so fond of him.
“Where’s Moise?” asked Rob, after a time, assisting Uncle Dick at unsaddling his riding-pony.