The heroes of his favorite books could not only whip a dozen Indians very easily, and come off without a scratch, but they could go alone into a hostile camp and rescue a "partner" who had been captured by them.
Here were men, however—live men, too—who were willing to acknowledge that they had been whipped, that they had seen quite enough of savage life, and that they would be glad to reach home, where they could live in peace.
"Leon," said Frank suddenly, "don't you think you had better give me half the money you've got left? You pay all the bills, and that looks as though I was sponging on you."
"Never mind that," was the reply. "It's all in the family."
"But what if somebody should go through you?" urged Frank. "I suppose there are pickpockets here, as well as in the cities. If you lost your share, I'd have mine left to fall back on."
"But I don't intend that anybody shall go through me," answered Leon. "I'll take good care of the money, and pay your bills and mine, too."
"You had better keep close watch over it," said Frank to himself, "for, if I once get my hands on it, I'll take enough of it to see me safely back to Boston, I bet you. Leon," he added, almost desperately, "I am tired of this! Let's go back before it's too late. We must go some time."
"Ah, ha!" exclaimed his cousin. "That's the reason you want half the money, is it? Well, you can't have it! It is all very well for you to talk about going home, for you will go straight to Boston, and none of your friends there will ever know that you ran away—your folks, of course, won't say anything about it. But if I go home, I must go among those who know everything. No, sir! I'll never see Eaton again until I have made a name for myself!"
Frank, seeing that he had made a mistake, tried to turn the matter off with a laugh, and hastened to assure his cousin that if he was still determined to go through, he (Frank) would stand by him through thick and thin.
He hoped in this way to throw Leon off his guard, so that the latter would relax his vigilance and give him a chance to steal what was left of the six hundred dollars—for that was what he had determined to do.