"We'll have some money," said Tom, "but, of course, we've got to sail pretty close to the wind and to cut our coat according to our cloth. When we get our 'final statements' cashed we ought to have about two hundred dollars apiece. This ought to buy us a good team of ponies and camp outfit, with supplies for the winter. At outfitting towns like Saint Joe, Leavenworth, Kansas City, or Independence there are chances to buy a good team and camp outfit in the fall from people who are coming in from buffalo hunting, and get them cheap, too.
"We ought to go to one of those towns, look out for such hunting parties, and, if we can find what we want cheap, take it in; then we can strike out for the plains by the old Santa Fé road, select a location in about the thickest of the herds, build us a cabin or dugout, and get ready for winter."
Jack and I agreed that the plan was sound, and Tom then asked us for any ideas or suggestions that we might have. We both felt, however, that his fifteen years' service had given him so much experience that he was much more likely to think of the necessary points than we, and we had far more faith in his judgment than in our own. We asked him to go ahead and give us the further details of his plan so far as he had thought them out.
"First," Tom said, "we must get what we absolutely need, and if we have any money left after that we can buy luxuries. For grub we'd better take about the same as government rations—flour, bacon, beans, coffee, sugar, rice, and salt. A Sharp's rifle and a Colt's navy apiece, with plenty of cartridges, will be all the arms we'll want, and, besides the clothing we already have, each man ought to have a good suit of buckskins. These are better than any cloth for wear and to keep off the wind. We can make overcoats, caps, and mittens out of furs as soon as we take a few pelts and dress them. Most of these things we can get here before we are discharged. The first sergeants of the cavalry companies often have some of these things over and will sell them to us for very little money."
"How about tobacco and pipes?" asked Jack.
"Tobacco don't come under the head of general supplies, and, as Peck don't use it, every man will have to buy his own tobacco."
"How about whiskey?" asked Jack, for he had a weakness for liquor.
Tom answered him quickly: "There'll be no whiskey taken along if I am to have any say in the plans for the expedition. When we leave the settlements you'll have to swear off until we get back again; and that reminds me that when we get our 'final statements' cashed it will be a good idea for you to turn over your money to Peck, all except a small allowance for a spree, if you must have one."
Jack was forced to yield to the decision of the majority that whiskey should form no part of our supplies.
"Seems to me," I began, to change the subject, "that we've got to decide on where we'll go. Where do you think we'd better locate our winter camp, Tom?"