The laughter of the Overlanders put an end to the argument of the two guides, following which preparations for the night were resumed. It was decided not to try to mend the tents until daylight, which meant that some of the party must sleep on the ground in the open. J. Elfreda Briggs objected loudly.
“There are rattlesnakes here! I saw one today. What if one should crawl into my blanket in the night? I know I should die of fright.”
“Silly!” rebuked Emma. “If such a thing should occur, I’ll tell you what to do. Don’t move a muscle nor make a sound, but call for Sam, and he will shoot the head off the reptile without so much as disturbing your rest.”
“Emma Dean, your logic is overwhelming. As a lawyer I fully appreciate it, and I thank you for the suggestions. Without moving and without speaking, I will yell for Sam and he will fan my cheek with a bullet, and during it all I shall slumber on as peacefully as a babe in its cradle. Lovely!”
“Never mind the snakes. Turn in!” ordered Hippy.
An hour later the camp was asleep and just outside of it prowled Jim and Sam, halting to growl at each other when they met on their rounds. Only once during the night was the quiet disturbed. About two o’clock in the morning Jim-Sam heard a body of horsemen moving. It was but a faint thudding that was borne to their ears, and after listening for some time they heard the hoof-beats die away in the distance.
“Glad we ain’t got to do no more shootin’,” observed Sam. “Might wake up the gals and that shore would be too bad. Say, Jim, that little Missie Dean, with the freckled face like a speckled trout, shore’s got spunk.”
“A-huh! Mebby she’ll lend ye some of it,” retorted Jim.
“Shet up!” growled Sam, and strode away for another round of the camp.
A pack of coyotes at this juncture barked in a yelping chorus, and the Overlanders heard them but only faintly, for it was now a familiar sound to them after their many nights in the wilder places of their native land.