When he met Steve in the evening he heard the waggon was to start at daybreak, and Jeff Ralston, the miner, was willing to take him as far as the mountains if he were there in time, but on no consideration would he wait one moment for him.
'I'll be there, never fear!' exclaimed Jack joyfully.
'This Jeff seems a rough, good-natured fellow,' went on Steve, 'an' he'll be kind to you, I guess, if he don't get drunk. He's like my father when he's drunk: he ain't no use at all; but there isn't much to drink on the prairie, so I expect you'll be all right.'
Jack was quite grateful enough to please Steve, although the little boy did not know that his kind-hearted cousin had given the miner some of his own hard-earned dollars to secure his goodwill towards the youthful traveller.
'You'd better get home an' to bed now,' said Steve at last, 'or you'll miss getting up in time. I hope you'll get through safe, Jack, an' perhaps I'll come an' look you up myself some day.'
'Good-bye, Steve; I won't ever forget you, an' I'll tell Father an' Mother how you helped me off to see them,' said Jack gratefully, and after an affectionate farewell the cousins parted.
Jack went to bed directly he got into the house, but never a wink of sleep did he get. He lay quite still for hours, until the deep breathing through the thin partitions told him that the rest of the family were slumbering soundly. Then he arose and dressed himself. Making no noise, and carrying his boots and a blanket which was his own property, he quietly got out of his window, and in a few minutes was hurrying along the road towards the outskirts of the village in the direction of the miners' camp.
