“Will it disturb you if I play checkers with Ernest, papa?”
“No, I should like to have you amuse yourself,” answered the outlaw.
He directed the boys to go to bed early. They slept together and he threw himself on the lounge without taking off his clothes.
Ernest slept well. When he woke up at eight o’clock he saw that Frank was still sleeping, but his host was already up.
Juba came into the room.
“Get up, children,” she said. “Breakfast is ready.”
“Where is papa?” asked Frank.
“He took breakfast an hour ago, honey.”
“What made him get up so early?”
“’Portant business called him away.”