But Sam did not act as though he heard him. He dashed open the door, and sprang to the ground and hurried away.
There was a large company of schoolboys assembled on the platform to see Oscar off, and if he had stopped to shake all the hands that were stretched out to him, he would have been obliged to wait for the next train.
He sprang upon the steps of the nearest car as the train was moving off, waved his cap to the boys, and looked around for Sam Hynes.
Presently he discovered that young gentleman far up the street, striding along with his hands in his pockets and his chin resting on his breast.
"Good luck to you, Sam, wherever you go and whatever you do!" said Oscar, while a big lump of something seemed to be rising in his throat. "You're the best friend any fellow ever had."
Oscar stopped one day in St. Louis to make a few purchases, and then went on to Atchison, where he took the stage for Julesburg. He arrived there on time, ate a hearty breakfast, and, leaving his luggage at the station, walked up to the fort to present his letters of introduction to the commandant and surgeon.
The reception these gentlemen extended to him was all he could have desired. They were astonished that a boy like himself should have been selected for so arduous and dangerous a mission, but they entered heartily into the spirit of the matter, and promised to assist him in every way.
We have seen that Oscar's arrival was most opportune. Had he delayed his coming a few days longer, there is no telling what would have become of Leon Parker.
Oscar spent the afternoon in writing long letters to his mother and Sam. The one intended for Sam, which was marked "confidential," contained a full history of Leon's adventures, and wound up with the request that Sam, for the sake of the friendship he bore the writer, would take Leon under his protection. Oscar hoped in this way to make things smooth for Leon.
There were mean boys in Eaton, as there are everywhere, but they would not be likely to say much to Leon about running away from home when they found he had a friend in such a heavy hitter as Sam Hynes was known to be.