“Have you ever been here before?”
The man, who was at least six feet three inches tall, and large in every way, threw back his head and emitted a laugh that was proportionate to the size of his body.
“‘Have I been here before?’” repeated the stranger. “Well, just a little. Last year I took in over one thousand beaver skins. I shot more than two hundred buffaloes. I hugged a grizzly bear until he yelled for mercy. I killed two Utes with one bullet.”
Reuben was looking intently at the stranger as he spoke and was inclined to believe that he was telling the truth. It was plain that the newcomer was a man of great physical strength, and his exploits, which he described in a loud voice, were not altogether improbable. At all events, the boy decided that the man was in nowise bashful, whatever his other faults might be.
“Yes, sir,” continued Rat. “I guess if you were to ask the redskins about me there aren’t many of them that can’t tell you who I am. I’ve fought them single-handed and alone, and then, again, I’ve fought them when there were hundreds of them together. I thought at first I would go up along the Oregon this trip, but I soon decided that too many others would be there, too. I don’t like company. That’s the reason I wasn’t very much pleased when I first saw you here.”
“Do you own this country out here?” inquired Reuben soberly.
“I can’t just say as how I own it,” laughed the giant, “but there aren’t many who will dispute what I claim. Where did you say your friend is?”
“I didn’t say. That’s just what I want to know.”
“Well, what are you planning to do?”
“The first thing I have got to do is to find Jean. Then I suppose we’ll start pretty soon for the place where we are going to begin our trapping.”