“We’ve cooked one breakfast and eaten it,” said Eugene. “We were too hungry to wait for you.”
“We’ll have to send somebody out on a foraging expedition pretty soon,” said Fred, holding up all that was left of the bacon. “To-morrow will see the last of our provisions, unless we put ourselves on short rations.”
Fred set about his cooking operations again, while Eugene reclined on his blanket and watched Archie as he rode the bay slowly back and forth. Having once been thoroughly broken to saddle, the animal was still “bridle-wise,” but, although he understood every command of his rider, he did not like to yield obedience. He preferred freedom to slavery and needed constant watching, for he was ready to take advantage of the smallest chance that was given him for escape. He was a very handsome, stylish animal, and it was no wonder that Colonel Gaylord did not like to give him up. When the bacon and coffee were ready, Archie hitched his horse in a thicket of evergreens, where he was effectually protected from the cold wind that was blowing, threw a blanket over him and went to breakfast.
The boys spent one day and night in their camp in the valley, during which the bay received the best of care and fully recovered from his fatigue, although he did not appear to become reconciled to captivity. He was a vicious brute, and so quick with his heels that it was a matter of some difficulty to handle him, and Archie was the only one who cared to attempt it. The wild horses seemed to miss him. They frequently came about the camp and called to him, and at such times he struggled so desperately to escape that the boys were alarmed lest he should injure himself.
Early on the morning following their arrival in the valley, they packed their bundles and took to their saddles for the return journey, Eugene leading Archie’s old horse, and Archie himself riding the bay. They now had a good view of the gorge, and it was so full of obstructions—tangled thickets, fallen trees and boulders that had tumbled from the cliffs above—and the path was so narrow and winding, that it was a mystery to them how the horses could have found their way through there in the dark. They stopped once for a short rest and lunch, and about three o’clock in the afternoon arrived within sight of the prairie. They thought of the wild man, but saw no signs of him.
The way was now clear, and being impatient to reach the Fort and exhibit their prize, they put their horses into a lope, and by the time the sun began to dip behind the mountains they had made fifteen miles farther on their journey. They followed a course a few miles to the eastward of the route they had first travelled, in order to find water. They knew just where to look for it, for the trapper had been very explicit in his instructions, and Eugene had communicated them to his companions while they were yet fresh in his memory, so that there might be no chance for any mistakes. The willows, which pointed out the position of the stream, came in sight at last, and then the boys halted and held a consultation. A thin cloud of smoke slowly rising above the tops of the trees showed them that their camping-ground was already occupied.
“Ask me something hard,” said Archie, when his companions, after looking at the smoke through their field-glasses, turned to him as if to inquire what he thought about it. “I am sure I don’t know who they are.”
“What shall we do?” asked Fred. “I don’t like the idea of going into a stranger’s camp, for I have not forgotten Frank’s experience with Black Bill and his party.”
“But Dick assured me that we had nothing to fear from any one we might meet,” said Eugene. “He told me, too, that if we got into any difficulty he and old Bob would be around.”
“Perhaps Dick and Bob are there now,” said Archie.