When the wolfer had disappeared, Oscar arose from his place of concealment and walked slowly toward the cabin. While on the way his attention was attracted by the actions of the mule; which, after following the pony a short distance down the valley, stopped and brayed after him, as if urging him to come back. Oscar supposed that he would, of course, go off with the mustang (the two animals never seemed to be easy when they were out of sight of each other), but the mule showed no desire to do anything of the kind.
He called to his companion several times, and then, turning about, galloped up to Oscar and brayed at him, as if he were trying to tell him how lonely he was.
“So you are going to stay with me, are 366you?” said the boy dolefully. “That is very kind of you. I must give you back to your master in the spring, and if you had gone off, I should have been two hundred dollars more out of pocket; but where I should have raised the money to pay for you is more than I can tell. Come on, old fellow!”
The mule followed Oscar toward the cabin, and would probably have gone in there with him, if the door had not been closed in his face.
Oscar was gone but a minute, and when he came back he had a piece of hard tack in his hand. He gave the mule a bite of it, and, holding the rest just in front of his nose, led him around to his quarters and shut him up. Oscar felt a little easier after that.
Having put it out of the mule’s power to run after his companion, the young taxidermist went back into the cabin to see how things looked there. It was in the greatest confusion; but, without wasting any time in useless repining, he set to work to restore order.
367At the end of half an hour he had got matters in such a shape that he could make an estimate of his losses. His rifle was gone from its place over the door, but the cartridges that belonged to it were all there. The thief had not taken them, because he did not know how to manage a breech loader; and he had carried off the rifle in order to put it out of Oscar’s power to follow him and recover his property by force of arms. A good portion of the bacon and crackers was missing, but the cans containing the condensed milk and preserved fruits were none of them gone. The robber did not know what they were. The saddles, bridles, both his blankets, all his cherished specimens, and every one of the skins he and the guide had trapped had disappeared; but the wolfer had not wantonly destroyed anything, and Oscar was very thankful for that.
This forbearance on his part was all owing to his wholesome fear of Big Thompson. If Lish had known that his dreaded enemy was more than forty miles from the valley, and 368increasing the distance at every step, he would have taken more time to select his plunder; and his desire to be revenged upon Oscar for something the boy never did might have led him to burn all that he could not carry away.
Having put everything that was left in its place, Oscar threw a few sticks of wood on the fire, drew a stool up beside it, and sat down to think over the events of the day; but an instant afterward he jumped to his feet, placed the stool in front of the door, stepped upon it, thrust his hand into the space between the roof and the topmost log, and could scarcely repress a shout of exultation when his hand come in contact with something wrapped in a piece of deer-skin.
“The thief didn’t get this, anyway,” he said, as he drew the stool back to the fire. “If I had had it in my hands when I first saw his ugly head sticking in at the door, I don’t know whether he would have had so easy a time in robbing the cabin or not.”
As Oscar spoke, he unwrapped the deer-skin and brought to light a silver-mounted revolver 369and two boxes of cartridges. When he first came into the hills, he had always been in the habit of carrying the weapon with him on his hunting excursions; but, having seen how handy it was to have something else in his belt when it became necessary to build a fire in the woods or to cut a drag, he had put the revolver carefully away, and carried a hatchet instead.
While Oscar sat holding the weapon in his hand, an idea suddenly suggested itself to him—one that caused him the most intense excitement, and led him to believe that his affairs were not in so desperate a state after all.
Why could he not follow the robber, watch his camp when he saw him leave it, run up and recover the articles that had been stolen from him, and get away with them before Lish returned? Or, what was to hinder him from making use of the very tactics which the wolfer had so successfully employed—namely, surprising him in his camp, ordering him out of doors at the muzzle of his revolver, and making off with his property; taking with him the robber’s rifle, so that the latter could not pursue him with any hope of success.
370“I’ll do it!” said Oscar to himself. “We are both out of reach of the law; and, since there is no officer here to protect me, I have a perfect right to protect myself. Yes, sir; I’ll do it.”
Oscar was so very highly elated that he could not sit still; so he arose from his stool and walked up and down the cabin while he matured his plans, which were to be carried into operation the following morning.
Being afraid to allow the mule his liberty, he cut a quantity of cottonwood boughs which he threw into the stable for him to browse upon; brought him some water from the brook; and, having provided for his comfort as well as he could, left the cabin—with his revolver for company—to make the round of Big Thompson’s traps. He knew that the best way to make the time pass rapidly was to keep busy.
By daylight the next morning breakfast had been disposed of; and Oscar, having put on his overcoat—taking care to see that his trusty revolver and a plentiful supply of cartridges were safely stowed away in one of 371the pockets—released the mule from his prison and sprang upon his back.
Did that long-eared animal know where he was going, and what he intended to do? It certainly looked like it; for, during the whole of the journey to and from the wolfer’s cabin, he was under as perfect control of his rider as he would have been if he had had a bit in his mouth.
Oscar guided him by touching his head with his hand on the side opposite to that toward which he wished him to turn. But he did not require any guidance at all after he struck the pony’s trail.
He fo............