“I don’t think so.”
“It had best be kept from him. I will see that it does not become known at school. It would wound the boy to be twitted with it by his schoolmates.”
Thanks to Mr. Hardy, Ernest found that the new charge imposed upon him would not materially interfere with his plans. A week later than he had originally intended he and Luke Robbins left Emmonsville.
As they rushed rapidly over the prairies, Luke Robbins turned to his young companion and said: “Our journey thus far has been adventurous. I wonder what lies before us.”
“We won’t trouble ourselves on that score, Luke. I feel hopeful.”
“So do I, and yet we have less than two hundred dollars between us.”
“That’s true.”
“Still, I have captured an outlaw, and you at the age of sixteen are the guardian of an outlaw’s son.”
“I don’t think we shall meet with anything stranger than that.”
Two days later, in a newspaper bought at an important station, there was an article that deeply interested both travelers. It related to the Fox brothers, recounting their daring attempt to escape from the jail where they were confined. John Fox got away, but James was shot dead by one of the prison guards.