“You know of the rangers?” interrupted Ben Gordon.
“Know of them, lad,” smiled their host, “why, I’m one of Colonel Dodge’s staff.”
“One of Dodge’s staff, eh?” repeated Bill Brown, picking up his ears. “That bein’ the case, Cap’n, you’d better start shinin’ up yer sword. Yer goin’ to have work to do.”
“Hm! You arouse my curiosity.”
“What’s more,” the big scout continued, “yer jest the man we’re lookin’ fer. Whar kin we locate Colonel Dodge?”
“Colonel Dodge?”
“Yep, we bear important dispatches fer him, from General Atkinson.”
“Aha! Just as I was beginning to suspect. Well, he is at Dodgeville, some forty miles north of here. Like myself, he is in the lead-mining business.”
“Forty mile, you say,” remarked Brown. “Trail fair to middlin’, I s’pose?”
“Not too bad. And say, if you’ll wait till morning, I’ll guide you up there. If we get an early start, we can make it in one day.”