“I don’t think you have ever been in here before,” accused Jean. “Have you?”
“Well, not exactly,” hedged Jim not wanting to tell an outright lie.
“Is there another cave?” asked Jean.
“Not that I know of. All there was to my hide-out I showed you. The trick is in finding your way here. You don’t seem to realize how important a pasture is to a secret headquarters. A cowboy has to have some place for his horse to graze. What good would a cave do? You couldn’t keep a horse in a cave.”
“I’d rather play pirate or robbers,” decided Jean. “Then a cave would be perfect. You wouldn’t need a pasture or a horse either.”
As they resaddled Ticktock and prepared to leave, Jean continued her argument.
“I think the hide-out should be half mine since I discovered the cave,” she maintained.
Jim pondered the question thoroughly. Jean’s demands did seem fair, for the cave certainly added tremendously to the hide-out. Still, if the emergency arose and he had to return to his original plan of disappearing with Ticktock, he didn’t want Jean to know his whereabouts. A woman could never keep a secret, and she would certainly tell her parents. No, unfair as it seemed, he would have to keep his headquarters to himself.
Protesting bitterly, Jean was blindfolded. “It isn’t fair,” she stormed.
Jim was firm, however, so they rode off toward home. Since Jean felt her brother was being very unjust, she decided she no longer had to keep her promise not to peek. While Jim was busy keeping the branches from hitting them in the face, she took cautious peeps from beneath the handkerchief.