He tossed the lad a goodly-sized piece of meat, which, if anything, was overdone.  Both ate more rapidly than was consistent with hygiene, their eyes continually wandering over the rocks and heights around them, in quest of their seemingly ever-present enemies, the Apaches.  It required but a few moments for them to, complete their dinner.  Mickey, in accordance with his custom, carefully folded up what was left, and, taking a drink from the stream which ran near at hand, they sprang upon the backs of their mustangs, and headed westward in the direction of New Boston, provided such a settlement was still in existence by the grace of Lone Wolf, leader of the Apaches.

“Now,” said Mickey, whose spirits seemed to rise when he found himself astride of his trusty mustang again, “if we don’t have any bad luck, we ought to be out of the mountains by dark.”

“And after that?”

“Then a good long ride across the prairie, and we’ll be back again wid the folks.”

“How glad I am that father isn’t there, that he staid at Fort Aubray, for when he comes along in a few weeks, he won’t know anything about this trouble till I tell him the whole story myself, and then it will be too late for him to worry.”

“Yes, I’m glad it’s so, for it saams if I had a spalpeen of a son off wid Lone Wolf, among the mountains, I’d feel as bad as if he’d gone in swimming where the water was over his head.  And then it will be so nice to sit down and tell the ould gintleman about it, and have him lambaste ye ’cause you wasn’t more respictful to Lone Wolf.  All them things are cheerful, and make the occasion very plisant.  Begorrah, I should like to know where that old redskin is, for Soot Simpson tells me that he is the greatest redskin down in this part of the world.  He’s the spalpeen that robbed a government train and made himself a big blanket out of the new greenbaeks that he stole.  Soot says that there isn’t room on his lodge-pole for half the scalps that he has taken.  Bad luck to the spalpeen, he will peel the topknot from the head of a lovely woman, or swaat child, such as I used to be, as quick as he would from the crown of a man of my size.  He’s an old riprobate, is the same, and Soot says he can niver die resigned and at pace with all mankind till he shoots him.”

“I’ll be very glad to keep out of his way, if he’ll keep out of mine.  I wonder why he didn’t kill me when he had the chance, instead of keeping me so long.”

“I s’pose he meant to carry ye up where his little spalpeens live, and turn ye over to them for their amusement.”

“How could I amuse them?”

“There be a good many ways.  They might have stuck little wooden pegs in your hide, then set fire to ’em, and then walked ye round for fireworks; or they might fill your ears with powder, and tech it off, and then watched the iligant exprission of your countenance.  Or they might lave set ye to running up and down between two rows of ’em, about eight or ten miles long, while aich stood with a big shillalah in his hand, and banged ye over the head with it as ye passed.  There be a good many ways, according to what Soot told me, but that’s enough to show ye that Lone Wolf and his folks wouldn’t have been at a loss to find delightful ways of giving the little childher the innocent sport they must have.”