To save money, he told them, he would be his own camera man.  He could do without a “still” camera, because he would enlarge clippings from the different scenes in the negative instead.  They’d have to manage the range stuff with only one camera, which would mean more work to get the various effects.  But with a telephoto lens and a wide angle lens he could come pretty near putting it over the way he wanted it.  “And there’ll be no more blank ammunition, boys,” he told them.  “So you want to fit yourselves out with real shells.  I’m not going very strong on this foreground bullet-effect stuff; we can afford to leave that for the Western four-flushers that can’t do anything else.  But she’s some wild down where we’ll be located, so we’ll not be packing empty guns, at that.

“And there’s another thing,” he went on, talking and making notes at the same time.  “If we’re going to do this, we can’t get started any too soon.  We may be able to hit a late round-up and get some scenes, which will save rounding up stock ourselves for it.  And there’s all that winter stuff to make, too; we haven’t any more time to throw away than we have money.”

“Well, we’re ready to hit the trail any time you are,” Andy declared.  “To-morrow, if yuh say so.  You go ahead with your end of it, Luck, and I’ll be straw boss here in camp and get the outfit packed and ready to ship outa here on an hour’s notice.  I can do it, too—­believe me!”

“Do you know,” said Rosemary, “I’d let James and Weary buy our winter’s supplies and have them sent by freight right on to where we’re going.  Things are awfully cheap here.  I’ll make out a list, and the boys can attend to that to-morrow.  And I’ll bake up a lot of stuff for lunches on the train, too.  We’re not going to squander money in the dining car.”

“Say, we’ll just borry one of them dray teams from the Acme corral, by cripes, and haul our own stuff to the depot!” Big Medicine exclaimed with enthusiasm.  “Save us four or five dollars right there!”

Luck rose and reached for his umbrella as though he had just recalled an important engagement.  “I think I know where to find a buyer for my machine,” he said, “so I’ll just get on his trail.  To-morrow I’ll start getting my camera outfit together.  Andy, I’ll turn this end of the expedition over to you; that idea of getting food supplies here is all right, within certain limits.  Don’t buy any cheap, weighty stuff here, because the freight will eat up all you save.  But I’ll leave that to you folks; I guess you’ve had experience enough—­”

“Considering most of us learned our a-b-c’s outa Montgomery-Ward catalogues,” Weary observed with a quirk of the lips, “I guess you can safely leave it to the bunch.  Range kids are brought up on them Wind-river bibles, as we call mail order catalogues.  I’ll bet you I can give offhand the freight on anything you can name, from a hair hackamore to a gang plow.”

“Fly at it, then,” laughed Luck, with his hand on the doorknob.  “I am going to be some busy myself.  I’ll just turn over the transportation problem to you folks. Adios.”