"It's our land now," he said. "Let's care for the horses, and I'll show you where the corners are."
They rode to the oak grove, stripped their mounts, rubbed them down, and Pete and Jed staked their horses on picket ropes. Cindy had no rope, but Sparkle showed no wish to leave his friends, and all three horses started happily to crop the rich grass.
"Now I'll show you—" Pete began.
"Hey!" Cindy shouted.
They had left the sacks of food with their other gear. Cindy looked around just in time to see a little black bear with a sack of food in his mouth running through the oak grove and into the tall grass. Jed drew his revolver, but before he could shoot the little bear had disappeared. Jed sheathed his gun.
"Doggone! There goes half our grub!" he exclaimed.
"And with three of us to eat what's left," Pete mourned, "we're likely to be on short rations. I'd better take care of the other sack."
He returned to the grove, pulled down a supple oak branch, tied the remaining sack to it, and let the branch spring upward. Coming back, Pete shrugged. The lost food was a serious matter, but there was no use complaining.
"Our claims adjoin down by the creek," Pete said, "and each of us has enough creek frontage so that we'll never lack for water. Come on."
He led them to the creek and showed them a neat cairn, or pile, of rocks that the government surveyors had placed there. Some of the rocks had tumbled down, but they were quickly replaced and the cairn built higher. Cindy looked at the creek.