"I know of but one way, and that is to stay here and meet him when he comes," replied Mr. Gilbert. "You don't seem to find your friend, do you? Let's go and get something to eat, and then we'll take another look for him."
When they entered the dining-room of the hotel at which Mr. Gilbert and Ned were stopping, George saw his cousin seated at one of the tables, but the latter wouldn't look at him. He also took particular pains to avoid him during the evening, and George, taking his conduct as an indication that Ned wished to hold no farther intercourse with him, made no effort to approach him. After supper he and Mr. Gilbert went out to look for Bob Owens, but could not find him. During this walk a plan of operations was decided upon which was to be carried out as soon as Uncle John made his appearance. He came the very next day, and then there was another stormy interview; but we will draw a veil over that, won't we? It will be enough to say that at the end of half an hour Uncle John came out of the room, in which the interview was held, wiping his face vigorously with his handkerchief; that he and Ned set off at once to find another hotel; and that George and Mr. Gilbert took the first train for Austin, the latter carrying in his pocket a check for nearly sixty thousand dollars which Uncle John had intended to deposit to his own credit in some bank in St. Louis. Uncle John did not dare tell Mr. Gilbert that everything the latter had written to George was false, and when Mr. Gilbert told him that he could make a statement there in Galveston or go back to the rancho to do it, just as he pleased, the guilty man made a full confession. George allowed him every cent that was due him, according to the terms of his father's will, and everybody who heard of it said it was more than Uncle John deserved.
George's business in the courts was soon transacted, and then he settled down at his rancho with his friend for a guardian, but more his own master, in fact, than he had ever been before. Mr. Gilbert rode over nearly every day, just to show his authority, as he said, but in reality to talk to George, whom he was glad to have for a neighbor again. The settlers had a good deal to say about his relatives, but it was in a good-natured way, and the boy noticed that they never failed to speak in the most complimentary terms of his fidelity to them.
When George had shaken hands with Zeke, who almost cried with joy at seeing him once more, and had got all his old herdsmen back, and had received letters from Mr. Black and Mr. Scanlan, both of whom had floated down the river on a sofa until they were picked up by a boat from the shore, he thought he was ready to settle down to business and to begin to enjoy himself in a quiet way; but, as it happened, he was not long allowed to rest in peace. Our dilatory government at last awoke to the fact that if our border along the Rio Grande was to be protected at all, we must protect it ourselves, and the general commanding the Department of Texas was instructed to pursue the raiding parties across the river, and punish them wherever they could be found. This raised the ardor of the Texans, and every man in George's neighborhood and every boy, too, who was old enough to do military duty, enrolled himself as a member of a company of Rangers, which was ready to march in less than forty-eight hours after it became known among the settlers that such an order had been received. But the department commander, knowing the deadly enmity that existed between these men and the Mexicans, would not accept their services. It was his intention, he said, to rely entirely upon the regular troops under his command; but he needed guides who knew the country on the other side of the river, and who could lead him to Don Miguel's rancho, which was supposed to be the headquarters and stronghold of the most daring and formidable of the raiding parties—the one led by Fletcher. There was one in the settlement who could tell him where to look for that rancho, and his services, which were promptly offered to the officer commanding the nearest post, were as promptly accepted. What our hero saw and did after that, how he fell in with Gus Robbins and Bob Owens, and how the latter gained a reputation as an Indian fighter, shall be told in "George at the Fort; or, Life Among the Soldiers."
Transcriber's Note:
Obvious typographic errors have been corrected.