Acting on the hint, Eugene turned to Silas, who was riding close behind them, and propounded the question to him; but that worthy only shook his head and grinned, and that was all they could get out of him. Eugene persisted until his two companions expected to see the hunter become angry; but he did not. He was in a very good humor, and no doubt the prospect of soon handling a million dollars was what made him so. The old man was depressed in the same degree that Silas was elated. The first burst of grief being over, he had nothing to say, but his whole frame quivered and his face was convulsed with agony.
The boys were not at all alarmed at their situation—they were only angry and sorry; angry because the horse for which they had worked so hard had been taken from them, and sorry for the Pike, who was about to be deprived of his hard-earned wealth. It was true that Eugene, as soon as his feelings of resentment had had time to wear away, began to be somewhat anxious in regard to that which was in store for them, but Archie quieted his fears by telling him just what was going to happen; and everything turned out as he said it would, except in one particular. They would be taken to some secluded place in the mountains, he said, so that they would be out of sight of anybody that might happen to pass on the prairie; the wagons would be robbed of whatever articles of value they might contain, and they would then be at liberty to resume their journey. Their arrival at the Fort would not be delayed more than three or four days, at the very furthest.
“No plottin’ agin the Dutch thar!” exclaimed Silas, noticing that the boys’ heads were pretty close together, and that they were talking in low tones. “If you’ve got anything to say, speak it out, so’t we can all hear it.”
“Well, then, I’ll ask you a question,” said Archie. “What are you going to do with us?”
“Nothing, if you behave yourselves,” was the reply.
“Then why do you compel us to go with you so far out of our way? You’ve got all we have that is worth stealing.”
“But you know too much. You might go back to the Fort an’ make trouble for us,” said Silas.
“You’re right,” said Archie, in a low tone, “and we may do it yet.”
“You’ve got nobody to thank but yourselves,” continued Silas. “Why didn’t you cl’ar out, like we told you to, an’ go about your business? If you’d a done it you’d a saved yourselves this trouble.”