Pantu looked up at his father. Docas looked gravely at him, so Pantu hung his head a little and limped into the house.
Then Docas looked at Oshda and smiled. “He’ll learn not to be so careless by the time he gets a few more bumps,” said Oshda, smiling.
SHIPPING THE HIDES AND TALLOW
NEXT morning Oshda put his new wheels on the old cart. He then got two oxen and brought them in front of the cart. He put a strong, heavy piece of wood across just behind the horns of the oxen and fastened it to their horns with rawhide. Then he hitched this wooden yoke to the cart, piled the cart full of skins, and they were ready to go.
Pantu said, “Oh, father, may I go too? I could attend to the soap-suds.”
“Yes, you may go,” said Docas.
Oshda brought out a pail of very thick soap-suds and set it down in the corner of the cart. He also put in some soap to make more suds when that was gone.
At last they started. Oshda and Docas walked along by the side of the oxen, and poked them with sharp sticks to make them go. Pantu sat up in front of the load of dry hides. As they started out, the cart jolted, the dry hides crackled, and the axle squeaked. It made such a noise that Father Catala, who was in the field half a mile away, heard them coming.
When they came up to him, he said, “You had better put some more soap-suds in the axle holes. I heard the squeaking when you first started out.” So Pantu poured some more soap-suds on the axle.
A number of other carts were going along filled also with hides and with tallow. Docas was in charge of the whole party. They travelled all day and camped at night, and by the evening of the third day they were at Monterey.