There remained only an hour or so of daylight after Roger had secured the best parts of the carcass of the young elk, and fastened the bundle of fresh meat to his saddle.
Dick knew that they must be more than ordinarily careful where they spent the night, because the chances were the vindictive half-breed would be scouring the country looking for signs of them. If they were incautious about building the cooking fire, his sharp eyes would be sure to discover their location; and, should that occur, they could expect trouble.
The thing that worried them most of all was the possible theft of their mounts. That the packhorse had been stolen was not a matter of such importance, for they could get on without an additional animal; but in regard to their saddle horses the case was vastly different.
It would be next to impossible to overtake the expedition on foot, as they had learned before now. In following the river, there were times when, on account of bad ground, they had to cover five miles in order to make one of progress. And all this time the hardy voyageurs who were boatmen for Captain Lewis would be urging their craft forward with the skill and ability peculiar to their kind.
This being the case, Dick was bent on finding some hiding-place for a camp, where they could be additionally secure, and the horses kept within close reach.
“No fire to-night, unless we can hide it,” he announced to his companion, when they were once more moving along, keeping a constant lookout for foes, and at the same time on the alert for the nook that would meet their requirements for a camp.
Roger groaned.
“Then I do hope we’ll be lucky enough to find a good place,” he remarked, as he redoubled his efforts to make the discovery; “because I’m hungry for a bite of this fine young elk. Why, it’s been three days now, or even more, since I put a tooth in fresh meat. This tough old pemmican is as hard as flint, and next to tasteless.”
“But you know what our mother would say, Roger about looking a gift horse in the mouth. If we could get nothing better, this same dried venison would keep us alive; and when you’re real hungry it doesn’t seem so very bad.”
“Oh, well, perhaps not, Dick,” admitted the other; “and I’ve seen times when it tasted pretty good; but after being on that pemmican for three days, and with a young elk in hand, it would be hard if we couldn’t have a fire to-night.”