Little the boys cared which reason it was that actuated the movements of the Apache braves who had threatened to give them all sorts of trouble.
“I’m going out there and take a little look around this morning, after the light gets better,” announced Donald, as they resurrected the fire, and Billie generously offered to do the cooking for breakfast for the crowd.
“I’d like to go along,” remarked Adrian.
“Hope now you ain’t thinking of trying to follow them fellows up, and leave me here all alone, to attend to breakfast, and guard the ponies at the same time,” ventured the anxious Billie, looking up quickly.
“We don’t expect to wander out of sight of the tent, make sure of that, Billie,” Adrian told him, understanding that the other must feel a little nervous about being left by himself which, under the circumstances, could hardly be wondered at.
“Oh! all right,” mumbled the fat boy; “I’ll keep my gun handy, and if anything comes along to bother me, why, I’ll let you know. But when you hear me give a cooee, just trot this way, because I’d hate to have to eat all this breakfast by myself.”
They assured him that there was no chance of such a dreadful catastrophe happening; and then, taking their guns with them, started off to scout around the spot where, according to Donald, the Indian had been at the time the shot came.
“See here, you can make out where he crawled along, for his toes made a track; and here’s where his knee knuckled down in the earth,” Adrian quickly remarked as they bent low over the ground, the better to pick up the signs.
“Right you are,” echoed Donald, coming to his side immediately; “and if ever you felt inclined to wonder whether I dreamed all that about the young buck over here, I reckon now you know it was real, don’t you, Ad?”
“I never doubted it in the beginning,” replied the other; “because I knew you weren’t given to such things. And then, besides, I heard both the