We must have been asleep three or four hours when I was awakened by the loud barking of a dog. I started up and began unfastening the front end of the cover. Just then I heard the pony snort in terror; and then followed a shot from a gun and the sound of horses galloping away. As I put my head out, Jack called, excitedly:
"Some men were trying to get the pony. They'd have done it, too, if Snoozer hadn't barked and scared them away."
I was out of the wagon by this time, and found the pony trembling at the end of her picket-line as near the wagon as she could get. Snoozer kept barking as if he couldn't stop.
"Did they shoot at you, Jack?" I asked.
"No, I guess not. I think they just blazed away for fun. They went off toward the Reservation. Some of Gene's poor s'ciety, I suppose."
It took half an hour to get the frightened pony and indignant dog quieted; and perhaps it was longer than that before we again got to sleep.
XII: HOMEWARD BOUND
"Snoozer shall have a pancake medal."