Jack stood gazing after him until he was lost to sight in a cloud of dust; then, holding the packet tight in his hand, he remounted the waggon, and they moved on once more over the dusty road.
It was August, and the hot sun poured down its relentless rays on the prairie schooner and its occupants travelling slowly on; but Jack never grumbled. He was happy enough, knowing that he had started out on his long journey; and what cared he for the heat when he found himself moving along the same road over which his dear father and mother had travelled before?
But to return for a time to Longview. Jack's absence from his uncle's house was not noticed until breakfast-time. When he was first missed, the Byrnes concluded he had gone to look for the cow, as there was no morning's milk in the place where Jack usually left it. A few hours later they were surprised to hear Roanie lowing near the yard gate, and knew that the wandering animal must have actually come back of her own accord to be milked. But where was Jack? Roanie's arrival caused quite a stir. Mat Byrne began to think something was wrong, and he and the two boys sallied forth to look for the truant in the village.
They asked various people, but no one had seen Jack, and though they hunted every spot they could not find him. His uncle got very angry, and vowed to pay him out when he caught him again.
Luckily for Jack, his uncle never once supposed so young a boy would think of running away, and he made sure that by evening Jack would return to his house hungry and repentant.
He at first thought he would find Jack with his own son, Steve, and therefore was greatly surprised to see the latter riding carelessly about the village all day. Steve rode past him, giving him an indifferent nod, and his father little thought how closely the cowboy was watching every movement he made.
Never for one moment did Mat Byrne connect Jack's disappearance with the departure of the two miners that morning, and when it dawned on the searchers the next day, after having ransacked every shed and building in Longview, that they must look further afield, for the missing boy, our fugitive was too far away to fear recapture. Byrne made many inquiries from incoming travellers as to whether they had seen a lad anywhere along the different roads; but, thanks to Jeff's precautions, not a soul passing their waggon had seen the small boy hiding under the blankets; and, unable to get any clue to the direction Jack had gone in, his uncle was at last obliged to give up the search.
For three or four days Jack was very careful to keep out of sight; but as they got farther away from Longview, he felt safer and breathed more freely. He was always glad when they stopped to camp for the night, as his legs got very cramped in the waggon. If possible, they halted each time near some spring or creek of water, where they could get plenty for man and beast to drink.
Everyone had his own work allotted to him, and in this way, knowing what each one had to do, much confusion was saved when forming the camps. Lem looked after the four horses, unharnessed them, watered them, gave them their feeds, and picketed them out where the grass grew most plentifully. Jeff was cook, and Jack helped them both. Jeff found him most useful. He collected fir cones and bits of piñon or birch-bark to start the fires with, and kept them going with sticks; he filled the camp-kettle from the spring, while Jeff fried the beefsteak or sausage-meat; and even Lem looked less sullen when he found how much quicker he got his meals than before Jack came.
Always after they had eaten their food Jack washed up the things in a bucket, and put them tidily by in their places in the waggon, while the men lounged by the fire and smoked. Jack soon got used to the life, although it seemed very strange to him to find himself every night farther away from Longview, and getting nearer and nearer to the grand mountains which they could just see stretching along in a huge range miles ahead of them.