"Well," said Jack, "we're going to make the trip, and I believe we're going to get through all right, and not have a bit of trouble, and I wish you were going with us."
"So do I wish it, but I know I ain't, so it's no use crying over it."
Lying about the Powell house Jack saw two of the wolf puppies that he had helped dig out the summer before. They seemed tame enough, a good deal like big dogs, but they did not make friends with strangers, as dogs would have done, but instead, moved off out of the way. With Charlie and Bess, however, they seemed on very good terms, and very grateful for any petting or attention. The sight of these great beasts made Jack think a little sadly of his own wolf, Swiftfoot, far away in New York.
Bess, too, talked with Jack about the trip that he was making, and seemed to feel a little uneasy about its possible dangers, while Mrs. Powell said she thought it a shame that Jack should be allowed to go away off among the Indians, where she was sure he was going to be killed.
Hugh laughed at her doleful prophecies, and said, "Why, Mrs. Powell, there ain't a mite o' danger. I wasn't much older than Jack when I first came out into this country, and I've been travelling about now for more than forty years, and nothing's ever happened to me. It seems strange that a sensible woman like you should have such queer ideas."
The journey formed the principal topic of conversation that evening, but Hugh and Jack remembered to tell Mr. Powell about the cow that had been killed as they were riding out two days before, and about the swift punishment that had fallen on the two wolves. When bedtime came, Hugh and Jack spread their blankets on the kitchen floor, and were soon sleeping soundly.
Next morning Hugh asked Mr. Powell if he could spare them a saddle horse, and if he would let Charlie ride a few miles with them, until they learned how the animals could travel on this second day. If they went well, the horse could be sent back by Charlie, but if it was necessary to keep it, Jack would send back a note, asking his uncle to furnish Mr. Powell with a horse to take its place through the summer.
This morning the horses took their loads better. The Dun bucked a little, but not nearly so much as the day before, while the other horses, as soon as their loads were put on and they were turned loose, began to feed quite contentedly. Jack and Charlie packed on the off side, both pulling at the ropes, but Jack arranging them, under Charlie's direction. When they started, the animals fell into line very promptly, and walked briskly along close behind the lead horse. They gave no trouble whatever, and seemed to have made up their minds that they were going somewhere, and must follow Hugh. So about the middle of the morning Hugh told Charlie that it was not necessary for him to come any further, and that they would not need to take along the extra horse. So they shook hands there, and Charlie rode off back to the ranch at a gallop, while the pack train started on its journey north. Jack felt now as if they were really cut off, for he knew that they would probably not see a white face again until they reached the far-away Missouri River.