“Ah! that’s just what I am afraid of,” said the colonel uneasily. “You are afraid there will be somebody there to watch you when you come out.”
Carl, the Trailer, said that that was what he was afraid of.
“Well, I don’t know as it makes much difference to me what he sends in return,” said the colonel, after gazing abstractedly at his table for a few minutes. “He will have to send them down by his own scouts. If you can get into the fort, it is all I ask for. If you are all ready you can go. I shall expect you back here in three days.”
Lieutenant Parker wanted to tell his colonel that if he did not see them by that time day after to-morrow he would not see them at all, but he thought he would wait and let his actions speak for him. Parker took the papers which the colonel handed him and put them into the pocket of his coat, which he buttoned up; and after shaking him by the hand and listening to his words of encouragement and advice, the boys went out. There were many around the gate to see them off, for Lieutenant Parker had never gone on an errand like this before, and when the boys mounted their horses and rode out of the stables, caps were lifted all around them. Randolph was there, for he could not stand idly by and let his companion go off on that dangerous mission without another word to him.
“Good-by, old fellow,” said he, pressing up close to Parker, so that he could take his hand. “Remember that I shall look for you by day after to-morrow.”
“I will be on hand,” exclaimed Parker, with a sweeping salute to all the rest of them who had gathered around. “If the horses hold out I shall certainly be here.”
“That fellow acted as though he was not going to see you any more,” said Carl, when they had left the fort behind them. “I don’t see the use of their making so much fuss over our going. I have been to Standing Rock Agency half a dozen times since this trouble began, and have always got back safe.”
“Well, it had no effect upon me except to make me all the more determined to come back,” said Parker. “The colonel said that if we could get into the fort it was all he asked for. Now, what does he mean by that?”
“It means that some things have happened that are going to put us in more danger than we supposed,” said Carl. “To my mind there is something up.”
“You think the dance has got farther along than we know anything about?” said Parker.