Fred, who dreaded the long spell of dreary waiting which seemed before him, asked that he might make one of the company; but Sut would not consent, and he objected to both.  He finally compromised by agreeing to take the Irishman, but insisted that the lad should stay behind with his mustang.

“A younker like you couldn’t do us a bit of good,” added Sut, by way of explanation, “and like as not yer’d get us into the worst kind of difficulty.  Better stay whar you be, rest and be ready to mount your new animal as soon as we’re back, and scoot away for New Boston.”

“How soon will you be back?” he asked, feeling that he ought to make no objection to the decision.

The forenoon was about half gone, and the scout looked up at the sky, removed his coon-skin cap, and thoughtfully wrinkled his brows, as though he were solving some important mental problem.

“Yer may skulp me, younker, but it’s a mighty hard thing to tell.  Now I got back with my own animile a good deal sooner than I expected, but that same thing ain’t likely to happen agin.  More likely it’ll be t’other way, and we may be gone all day, and p’raps all night.”

“And what am I to do all that time?”

“Wait; that’ll be easy enough, arter such a rough tramp as I’ve given yer.”

“But suppose some of the Indians come here; I haven’t got any gun or pistol, so what shall I do?”

“The hoss thar will let you know when any of the varmints come sneaking round, and he’ll do it, too, afore they know whar yer be, so you’ll have time to dig out.  I ain’t much in the way of using a knife,” added the scout.  “I depends on me gun for a long range, and when I gets into close quarters, I throw this yer (tapping the handle of his knife), round careless like; but I’ve got a little plaything yer that has stood me well, once or twice, and if it’s any help to yer, why, yer are welcome to it.  It was give to me by an officer down at Fort Massachusetts.”

As he spoke, the scout drew a small revolver, beautifully mounted and ornamented with silver, which he handed to the lad, who, as may be supposed, was delighted with the weapon.

“Just the thing, exactly,” he said, as he turned it over in his hand.  “There are five barrels.”

“And every one is loaded,” added the scout.  “The pill which it gives a redskin ain’t very big, but it’s sure, and it’ll hunt for him a good ways off; so the dog is apt to bite better than you expect.”

Sut told him that he expected to return by nightfall, and possible before, but they might be kept away until morning.  Under any circumstances, whether successful or not, they would be back within twenty-four hours, for they could better afford to wait and repeat the attempt than to stay away longer than that.  The reason for this decision was that if any of the Apaches should attempt to trail them, and there was every reason to believe that they would, they would not need more than twenty-four hours to track them to this hiding place.  It was especially necessary that a collision with them should be avoided as long as possible, for the whites had everything to gain by such a course.  As time was valuable, Sut did not delay the departure, and, as he and Mickey gave the lad a cheery good-by, they turned off to the right, and a minute later disappeared from view.