"I reckon you are right," reflected the guide.
"Then it is settled. You go in with me. Can you let him have a horse? I see you have your nags with you," said O'Rell.
"Mr. Vaughn has his own pony here, too," answered Tad.
"That's good. With luck I'll have him home and in the hands of old Saw Bones before midnight."
After breakfast Tad packed the guide's kit, while Cale was giving Charlie John explicit instructions regarding the care of the party, where they were to be taken and where they were to go into camp and wait for him some ten days to two weeks later.
The guide told the Professor that, in case they got short of provisions, they could send the Indian in to any of the towns for fresh stores. A night and a half day should suffice to them to a town almost anywhere in that time, and Charlie could be trusted to carry out his orders faithfully so long as those orders were in black and white.
All preparations were made for the journey by Tad. He placed his own saddle on Mr. Vaughn's pony, because it was a more comfortable saddle than that owned by the guide. Finally all was ready. The boys picked up the injured man and lifted him bodily into his saddle, Patsey O'Rell regarding the proceeding with something of wonder in his eyes, for the boys did not look as if they possessed so much strength. With final instructions to Charlie, Cale rode away, O'Rell striding along by his side, leaving the Pony Rider Boys a little blue and unusually silent.
"We will cut up some of that meat, then bury the rest of the carcass before some other visitors come to camp," ordered Tad. "You shouldn't have said anything about the moose, Chunky."
"I guess I've got a right to talk about myself if I want to," retorted the fat boy.