The Camp in the Foot-Hills; or, Oscar on Horseback

by Harry Castlemon

Oscar spent but two days at the fort—pleasant days they were, too, and everybody seemed glad to see him—for he was impatient to be on his way home.

Their furs, and the mule and wagon, were disposed of without the least trouble; and, out of the money he received, Tom gave Oscar two hundred dollars to be handed to Mr. Smith.

It wasn’t much, Tom said, but still it would show the grocer that he intended to make all the amends in his power.

Tom and the guide assisted him to pack his specimens, which were put into boxes and addressed to himself at Yarmouth, and placed in the freight wagon that was to convey them to the nearest railroad station.

There was one thing that Oscar could not take back with him, greatly to his disappointment, and that was the fawn he had captured with the lasso.

These little animals never live long in confinement, especially if they have been driven hard previous to their capture; and it had died during his absence.

Lieutenant Warwick had seen to it that the skin was carefully preserved; but, as it had been taken off in the same manner that a butcher would remove the hide from a slaughtered ox, and was afterward tanned with the hair on, it was not of much value as a specimen. But then, somebody could make a rug of it, and so it was packed up to be taken to Eaton.

At last, when everything was ready for the start, and the farewells had all been said, Tom set out for Ike Barker’s ranch, and Oscar stepped into the stage-coach.

His heart was by no means as light as he had supposed it would be, for the pleasure he anticipated in once more shaking hands with his friends in Eaton was marred by the sorrow he felt at parting from those with whom he had so long been associated.

But one thing was certain: the last few months of his life had not been wasted. He had earned money enough to lift the mortgage from the roof that sheltered his mother, and he had been able to assist Tom in his extremity. The latter was on the right track now, and Oscar fervently hoped that he would allow no temptations to switch him off.