“I never said a word to them in my life,” said Claude, opening his eyes in surprise. “They said something to me, and I tried my best to defend Uncle Preston. They got their money right along every month, and were not worked any harder than the rest of us. But how are they going to catch us?”
“Oh, there are plenty of ways in which it can be done,” said Mr. Preston. “They are among the Sioux now, and it will be easy work to get a few of the young braves to come here and steal some cattle.”
“Why, they are at peace!” said Claude.
“That makes no difference. The Sioux are getting mighty uneasy about their money and their supplies, which ought to have been delivered long ago; and when a man gets hungry it don’t take him long to get on a cattle-stealing expedition. They will leave you here, wherever they find you, but they will capture Carl.”
Mr. Preston laughed when he said this, and Claude was half inclined to believe that he did not put any faith in what the squawmen intended to do. Carl came in very shortly, and he, too, laughed over the story. He did not believe that the Sioux would go on the warpath for the sake of capturing him, and he said so.
“I’ll tell you what to do, Claude,” said he. “If you see an Indian coming toward you, just halt him.”
“How will I do that? He speaks his own language——”
“Yes; but you have a rifle. Just point that toward him, and you will see him turn and go the other way.”
There was one thing that made Claude determine that he would not stay in that country any longer than he could help, and that was the idea of killing him on sight. Another thing that made him angry was the cordial manner in which the foreman and cook, who were not long in finding out why they came there, greeted the newcomers. Thompson told them that they were the very men he needed. Claude waited some time for the men to mount their horses and go away, and then he approached his uncle, who was sitting on the porch enjoying his after-dinner pipe.
“Why, Claude, how does this come?” asked Mr. Preston. “You ought to have been away long ago.”