CHAPTER XI.
JAKE AMSDEN MAKES AN EARLY CALL, AND HAS A WARM RECEPTION.
The next morning Gerald was up bright and early. He felt bound to entertain his new employer, who was temporarily his guest, as royally as possible. So he decided to make some fresh bread for breakfast, and this would take him some time. Still all his preparations were made, and breakfast all ready to be served before his companion awoke.
“He must be pretty tired,” thought Gerald. “I won’t wake him up, for his business isn’t very pressing, and he will be glad of a good long rest.”
He ate a little himself, for he had been up long enough to have a good appetite, and seated himself on the settee in front of the cabin.
It was a charming morning, and as Gerald sat there, he felt that he had good reason to be thankful. Yesterday he had felt alone in the world, and had very little idea how he was going to make a living, but to-day he found himself with a bright prospect ahead, and the promise of an income which would have been satisfactory to many of double his age.
The state of the weather is apt to affect our spirits, and the clear sunshine and cool bracing air had its effect on Gerald. From his seat he could see at a distance of twenty-five miles the snowy top of Pike’s Peak, looking on account of the clearness of the atmosphere not more than five miles away. There were intermediate summits which, had he been nearer, would have hidden the snowy crest of the grand old mountain, but from where he was he could see clearly, rising above the wooded slope.
“Colorado may be a wilderness, but it has grand scenery!” thought Gerald. “Some time I must go to the top of Pike’s Peak. The view from there must be great.”
He had entertained this wish before, but his father would not consent, and, indeed as there was some danger of losing one’s way in case of a sudden fog, his apprehensions were justified.