"I'm afraid I can't keep awake, Tom; Mr. Fletcher tells me, if I don't, that he will turn me adrift on the prairie. Isn't that hard?"
"I am afraid it is a necessary regulation. But you won't fall asleep. Your turn will only come about once in two weeks, and that isn't much."
"The nights will seem very long."
"I don't think so. I think it'll be fun, for my part."
"But suppose—when you are watching—you should all at once see an Indian, Tom?" said Peabody, with a shiver.
"I think it would be rather unlucky for the Indian," said Tom coolly.
"You are a strange boy, Tom," said Mr. Peabody.
"What makes you think so?"
"You don't seem to care anything about the danger of being scalped."
"I don't believe I should like being scalped any more than you do."