“Who? Archie? No. I’ve kept it to myself.”
“Then that ’counts fur it. I didn’t think he’d go in fur sich a thing, ’cause he knows it can’t be did; an’ so will you arter you think it over. Howsomever, I’ll tell you what you can do: You see—but if you go you’ll have to camp out fur three or four nights—mebbe six or seven.”
“We don’t care for that. We’ll be prepared, you see,” said Eugene, pointing to the bundle he was making up.
“An’ won’t your uncle care, nuther?”
“No. He knows that we used to camp out in the swamps of Louisiana for weeks at a time.”
“An’ you won’t be afraid when you hear the coyotes a yelpin’ an’ a howlin’ around you of nights, and you all alone on the prairy?”
“Of course not. We’ve heard wolves before we ever saw the prairie.”
“Wal, go ahead if you’re so sot onto it. The leetle ’un can take keer of himself an’ you too; but if so be you should happen to get into any difficulty, as you’d be sartin to do if that keerless Frank was along, mebbe me an’ ole Bob’ll be around. An’ as fur drivin’ them hosses——”
Here the trapper proceeded to give Eugene some very explicit directions as to the manner in which he ought to proceed in order to make his experiment successful; but we will not stop to repeat them, as they will all appear as our story progresses.
Eugene listened attentively, and after satisfying himself that he fully understood his instructions, he gathered up his friends’ blankets and his own, together with a goodly supply of bread and meat, some ammunition for Archie’s Maynard and his Henry rifle and Fred’s, a hatchet and a few other articles he thought they might need, and strapping them in a bundle behind his saddle, mounted his horse and rode gayly out of the camp. He laughed when he thought what a great mistake he had made in laying out his first plan, and felt more certain of success than ever. The trapper had assured him that failure was next to impossible if the matter were rightly managed, and Eugene began to enjoy in anticipation the reception that would be extended to him and his companions when they rode into camp with the captured horse. Of course they didn’t want any reward for restoring him to his owner, and wouldn’t accept any. If the colonel would allow them to keep him a day or two, just long enough to run a few races and take a little of the conceit out of Frank, they would be abundantly satisfied.