“Where is Duke?” Ross asked, glancing around.
“Duke him gone hunt meat—him big heap hungry dog,” was the guttural reply.
“Well, I’m big heap hungry myself,” Douglas laughed as he shifted his gun from one shoulder to the other. “Come; let’s find Joe and have some supper.”
By this time the wagons had been arranged in a semicircle inclosing several acres of prairie. Soldiers were busy erecting tents and lighting camp-fires. Teamsters were watering their jaded beasts at the river and feeding them in the inclosure. The two scouts threaded their way among the mass of men and animals, until they reached the farther end of the area.
There Farley had picketed his two yoke of oxen, and, assisted by a number of militiamen, was unloading his vehicle. Their camp-fire blazed and crackled cheerily; and about it a half-dozen soldiers were preparing to cook their evening meal. As Douglas and Bright Wing drew near they heard Joe saying whimsically:
“Go ’way, Duke, an’ behave y’rself. Have some manners, an’ wait till y’r victuals is cooked. Drat it all, I never did see such a hungry dog! I’ve give him ’bout two pound o’ raw meat, an’ he’s lickin’ his chops fer more. By cracky! If he gits much hungrier, he’ll eat me an’ the oxen. Git out o’ the road, you rascal, ’r I’ll fall over you. Wher’ve you been all day—an’ wher’s y’r master? No use to roll y’r eyes an’ whine—I ain’t a-goin’ to feed you no more. I wish you could talk—I do, by Samanthy! It makes me feel sort o’ creepy an’ uneasy—you a-comin’ in here, an’ no sign o’ y’r master ’r the Injin.
“Ding-it-all-to-dangnation! Why can’t a dog talk? They’ve got sense an’ they’ve got souls, an’ they ort to have the power o’ speech. Do git out from under my feet, ’r you an’ me’ll have a fallin’ out d’rectly. Hello! Here comes y’r pardners.”
“Good evening, Joe,” Douglas cried. “What’s the prospect for a hot supper?”
“Fair to middlin’,” Farley answered, a comical expression overspreading his ugly features. “One o’ the fellers is mixin’ up a corn pone, an’ we’ve got plenty o’ meat an’ coffee. But you come jest in the nick o’ time—you did, by ginger!”
“Why so?”