I obeyed him unwillingly, and lay attentively watching the doctor’s thoughtful face and the fire. Then I wondered whether we should have that savage beast again which had haunted our camp at our first starting, and then I began to dose off, and was soon dreaming of having found my father, and taken him in triumph back to where my mother was waiting to receive us with open arms.
Chapter Twenty Five.
How I was disposed to find Fault with my best Friend.
When I unclosed my eyes it was bright morning and through an opening in the trees opposite to where I lay I gazed upon the dazzling summit of a mountain of wonderfully regular shape. As I lay there it put me in mind of a bell, so evenly rounded were the shoulders, and I was thinking whether it would be possible to clamber up it and inspect the country from its summit, when the doctor came up.
“Ah! Joe,” he said; “and how are the spirits this morning?”
“Spirits?” I said wonderingly, for my sleep had been so deep that I had forgotten all about the previous evening. “Oh, I’m quite well;” and springing up I went to the stream by which we were encamped to bathe my face and hands, coming back refreshed, and quite ready for the breakfast that was waiting.
“Let’s see,” said the doctor. “I promised an expedition did I not?”
“Yes: hunting or fishing,” I said eagerly, though I half repented my eagerness directly after, for it seemed as if I did not think enough about the object of our journey.