"No; but I am going to help him about his business. He is too feeble to look after it himself."
"Take care you don't get robbed," said Joe, with a smile. "It is a lonely road."
"Yes, I will be careful."
CHAPTER XXV
A PERILOUS RIDE
Gerald paid little attention to the caution that had been given him. He looked upon it as given more in jest than in earnest. But had he known that the conversation had been listened to by a stranger whose outward appearance suggested the tramp or desperado he would have felt a degree of apprehension. This man had been staying in the village for a couple of days; he had been one of the loungers at the store, and had listened to all the gossip that was in circulation. Among other things he had heard about the attempt at robbery in which Thomas Nixon came near being a victim, and had listened with interest to speculations about the money kept on hand by the old man.
When he heard the conversation between Gerald and the storekeeper he understood that the boy was about to carry a large sum in gold coins to the bank in Fairfield. Now, Saul Gridley was in a penniless condition. He was very much in want of money, and by no means scrupulous as to the method of filling his depleted pocketbook. He had served time in more than one prison, and had no character to lose. It is not strange, therefore, that he considered the present opportunity a good one for placing his finances in a satisfactory condition. Issuing bonds—a method recently made popular—was impracticable. He speedily formed his plans, and set out at a quick pace en route for Fairfield.
Gerald was detained for half an hour, partly from the necessity of going back to the Nixon home to obtain the gold. There, too, he found something to do for the old man. He lifted the tin box into the wagon and started away.
When he had gone two miles on the road he began to think over the caution which had been given him by Joe Loche. The road, he saw, was a lonely one. It was uneven, and not across the level prairie, for Montana, as its name indicates, is a hilly State.
"It would be quite possible for me to be robbed if I should meet a highwayman," he reflected. "I am only a boy, and, hampered as I am by the care of a team, I should be unable to make resistance. What shall I do to insure safety?"