He looked inquiringly at the boy as he said this, and then he reluctantly took the outstretched hand; but he did not shake it as though he was glad to see Uncle Bob. And indeed he wasn’t. He knew more of the man’s history than the latter thought he did.
“Now, then,” said Mr. Evans, who had no desire to prolong the interview, having already seen as much of Uncle Bob and Arthur as he cared to see, “I will bring up the wagon, and while I am gone, you can present your checks and get your trunks. We have about twenty-five miles to go to reach our camping-ground, and, if we want to get there before dark, we have no time to waste.”
“Camping-ground!” repeated Arthur. “Do you mean that we must sleep out of doors?”
“Oh, no! Knowing that you were tenderfeet, I took the liberty to stop at Bob’s house and get his tent.”
“Why, I was under the impression that a stage-line ran within a short distance of my brother’s ranch, and that there were hotels along the way, at which we could put up at night,” said Uncle Bob.
“Hotels in this country!” exclaimed Mr. Evans. “There are stations along the route, if they are what you mean; and if you want to eat soggy potatoes, green biscuit, and oleomargarine butter, and be eaten up with fleas when you go to bed, you can do it and welcome; but I won’t. Well-cooked camp-fare and a bed of clean prairie-grass are good enough for me.”
Mr. Evans hurried away, and when he returned a few minutes later, he was driving a span of mules, which were hitched to a light spring wagon with a canopy top.
There was one seat in the wagon, placed in the extreme forward end, so that the driver’s feet hung out over the pole; and the body of the vehicle was filled with camp-equipage.
Still, there was room enough in it for Bob’s trunk and George’s, as well as for the valises which the others had brought with them.
“All ready!” said Mr. Evans, when all these articles had been safely stowed away. “Jump in, Mr. Howard, and keep the trail, which is as plain as the nose on your face. The boys and I will follow on horseback.”