“Well, you have got hold of my name, and I wish you hadn’t done it,” said Bill, looking down at the ground and kicking a chip away with his foot. “Be careful that you don’t use it where anybody else can hear it. Perhaps I can find some other way to get it. Do you sleep very sound?”
I don’t know what reply I made to this question, for it showed me that Bill was about to attempt something after we had retired to rest. I made up my mind that he would try it too, but whether or not he would succeed in getting by Elam was a different story altogether. I made it up on the spur of the moment to take Elam into my confidence. He was a fellow who could remain awake for three or four nights, and in the morning he would be as fresh and rosy as though he had enjoyed a good night’s sleep.
“You want to sleep pretty soundly to-night, whatever you may do on other occasions,” said Bill, in a very decided manner. “I shan’t be here in the morning.”
He went off, whistling softly to himself, and I went back to my chair and sat down. They told us, when we first talked of going to Texas, that we would find things very different there, and indeed I had found them so. In Denver, if a man had betrayed himself in the same careless manner that Coyote Bill had done, he would have been shot on sight; but here were three boys who knew what Bill had done, some of whom had the reputation of being quick to shoot, and they were afraid to do a thing. It was the man’s fame as a quick shot that stood him well in hand. When I came to think of it, I was disgusted with myself and everybody else. If anyone had told me that I would turn out to be such a coward I would have been very indignant at him.
The hot day wore away, and presently I saw Tom and Elam coming back. They could not stay away when they knew that something was going on behind their backs. Mr. Davenport and Bob came out; the cook began to bestir himself, the dishes rattled in the kitchen, and in a little while they told us that supper was ready. Of course we had to be as neat here as we had anywhere else, and Elam and I found ourselves at the wash-basin. There was no one in sight.
“Elam,” said I, in an excited whisper, “whatever you do, you mustn’t go to sleep to-night!”
“Sho!” answered Elam. “What’s going on to-night?”
“Coyote Bill has made up his mind to steal that pocket-book. He says that the bonds are all he wants out of it. He means some mining stocks, I suppose.”
“Well,” exclaimed Elam, burying his face in the towel, “how is he goin’ to work to get it?”
“He intends to come in after we are all asleep and feel under the pillows for it. He asked me if I slept rather soundly at night, and I don’t know what answer I made him; but I thought of you and concluded you could keep awake. I have found out, too, that his name is Coyote Bill, just as you said it was.”