Sandy paused and smiled reminiscently.
“Not long after that we smelled smoke. It was faint, yet one could detect the odor. The sergeant said:
“‘We’re pretty close to them now, Sandy. When we find the source of this smoke, I think we’ll find them.’
“A little farther on, we saw a blue spiral, twisting and curling up among the trees. We were very close now. Naturally, I was very anxious to see you all again, and started forward on a run, but the sergeant overtook me, seizing me by the collar. He yanked me into the bush.
“‘Don’t be a fool!’ he said.
“I thought he was unduly cautious. He warned me to be quiet, to follow him. We advanced toward that smoke spiral as stealthily as a couple of Bengal tigers. I’m here to tell you, Dick, that I’m mighty glad now that we did.
“I guess you can imagine our surprise. Not you at all—not any of you! Instead four dirty half-breeds and a queer-looking duffer of a white man. I was disappointed. I didn’t have the least idea who they were, and supposed, of course, that we would leave them and proceed on our journey. I recall plucking at the sergeant’s sleeve and whispering something about hurrying along on our way.
“But for some reason, Richardson was suspicious. He instructed me to remain there while he crawled closer. The men were eating their breakfast and talking amongst themselves. Richardson wanted to hear what they said.
“I was annoyed over the delay. I wasn’t the least bit interested in those half-breeds.
“‘We’re just wasting valuable time,’ I told myself.