"That's good sound sense, my son," said Hugh.
"Now tell me, Hugh, how do we go from here down into North Park?"
"It's quite a ways," replied Hugh; "eight or ten days' march. We go from the ranch down the Muddy to the Medicine Bow, up that river quite a little way, and then cross over the divide to the Big Laramie and follow that up into the Park. That takes us pretty well on to Laramie City, and I guess we may as well go there anyhow, if we are going to get the rubber boots I spoke about."
"In that case we ought to start just as soon as we possibly can, oughtn't we?" said Jack. "I understand that the sooner we get onto the trapping grounds the better the fur will be."
"You're dead right," said Hugh, "and I'd rather start to-morrow than the day after."
"Well," said Jack, "is there any reason why we should not start to-morrow?"
"I don't know of any," said Hugh; "but your uncle is the doctor, and he'll have to tell us what to do."
"Well," said Jack, "what's the matter with hunting him up and finding out?"
"All right," said Hugh, "let's look for him."
Mrs. Carter, when asked as to the whereabouts of Mr. Sturgis, said that the last she had seen of him he had started down toward the blacksmith's shop, and there, a little later, Hugh and Jack found him and Joe busy tinkering with some iron work needed for the horse rake. The two stood around and watched the blacksmithing for a time, and then Mr. Sturgis looked up with a twinkle in his eye, and said, "You two look like scouts that have come in to make a report; what is it?"