This was most important to the boys. It assured them that they had gained remarkably on Captain Lewis and his company, who had had such a long start of them. If the expedition had been here within two weeks, their chances of overtaking it were excellent. Perhaps in another week, or two at least, they might expect to come upon the boats.
That anticipation had made Roger unusually cheerful all through the preceding night. Indeed, he even found difficulty in sleeping, and had been on his feet numerous times after they lay down in their blankets under the shelter of the tent.
And now a new source of trouble had come upon them. Old Peter, the packhorse, had a habit of wandering off; and on several other occasions Roger had been compelled to hunt for him in the morning; but this time he seemed to have disappeared for good.
Of course both lads took their rifles with them when leaving camp. In those early days, when one’s life often depended on prompt action, and also on having the means of defence handy, men and boys never neglected to keep their firearms where they could lay a hand on them at a second’s warning. Even when they slept, Dick and his cousin kept their guns close by, with a protecting arm generally thrown over them, for they looked upon these weapons as their best, indeed only, friends in this wild country.
It took Dick but a minute or two to circle around just outside the camp, and find the track of the broken hoof. Just as he expected, it soon began to edge away from camp. Old Peter was evidently up to his tricks again, and the grass must have seemed sweeter to him the further he could roam away from the spot where the tent had been pitched.
They followed the trail for a few minutes. Then Dick came to a pause, and, screening his eyes with his hand, looked keenly around.
“See any sign of the old rascal?” asked Roger.
“I must say I don’t,” came the answer; “and, to tell the truth, I hardly like the idea of wandering so far away from camp. While we are gone some one might come along and steal everything we own—horses, outfit and all.”
“That would be a tough deal for us, Dick,” remarked the other; “and for one I don’t think it would pay us to take the chance for the sake of such an old horse as Peter. But what shall we do?”