“You talk as though this was a desperate country,” laughed Phil.
“It isn’t that, it’s like it is with the ponies—when you need your guns, you’ll need them mighty bad,” put in Andy. “And now that everything’s ready, you’d best go to bed. We start at five tomorrow morning.”
Though the boys went to their room, they had so many things to talk over that it was a long while before they went to sleep. Yet they were up betimes, fed their ponies, ate a hearty breakfast, and were on their way only a little after the hour set by their guide.
Because of the packs tied to each saddle and the inexperience of the boys in riding, they travelled slowly.
“How much farther is it to our section?” asked Phil, after they had been in the saddle more than two hours.
“Getting tired?” inquired Andy.
“No-o. I was only wondering how we’d ever get Momsy and the girls to our homestead.” Smiling at the excuse, their guide replied:
“Oh, you will be able to put a road through before they come. Your claim is only about twenty-five miles from the station at Chikau.”
“My eye! That will be some haul for our provisions,” declared Ted.
“Oh, you’ll go to Bradley for them, that will be only fifteen miles from where your claim is. But I wouldn’t go there very often. It’s a pretty bad place, especially at night.”