“But I never would have done it if you hadn’t dared me. What are we going to do when we reach Brownsville, George?” “We’ll put up at a hotel and wait for Uncle John,” was George’s answer. “When he comes we’ll talk the matter over and decide upon something. I think we had all better go off somewhere. I am going, for I don’t want to see anybody in our settlement until this trouble is forgotten.” “You haven’t done anything to be ashamed of,” said Gus, who looked upon George as a hero. He had been perfectly cool and collected while everybody else was too badly frightened to talk plainly, and Gus greatly admired his courage. He told himself, too, that he had formed a wrong opinion of the boy from Ned’s description of him. He was not a boor by any means. He was more of a gentleman in appearance, in spite of his rough clothes, than his cousin was, and knew more in five minutes than Ned could ever hope to know. “No; I have done nothing to be ashamed of, but I am taking you out of danger, and the people will think hard of me for it,” replied George. “Besides, I deceived the owner of the stolen horse, and that will raise a storm against me. The folks in these parts are down on anybody who befriends a horse-thief.” “I am not a horse-thief!” exclaimed Ned. “Of course you are not. But you acknowledge that you kept Silk Stocking in your possession after you knew he was stolen, and that’s a crime in the eyes of our people!” “Don’t you think I can ever come back?” asked Ned. “O, yes! It will all blow over after a while, but you must be very careful in future, for a second offence of this kind would be sure to lead to something serious.” Ned was overjoyed to hear this. Now that he had recovered from his fright so that he could think clearly, he began to ask himself what the future had in store for him. How could he live if he were obliged to leave Texas? He knew that his father would be quite willing to support him, no matter where he might choose to take up his abode, but he could not do it without drawing heavily on the revenues of the estate, and it was not at all likely that George would consent to that; consequently Ned would be compelled to go to work and earn his own support. That was something the boy did not want to do. He had lived so long in idleness that the very thought of work was most distasteful to him. He told himself that he would indeed be careful how he acted when he came back to the ranche, and that nothing could ever again induce him to foolishly jeopardise his chances of living a life of ease. “Mr. Gilbert has often advised me to go away and see a little of the world, especially of my own country, and I don’t know that I shall ever have a better opportunity,” continued George. “I’d like first to go up the Mississippi, clean up to its source, and come back in a canoe. Canoeing is getting to be a favorite sport with some people.” “That would be splendid,” exclaimed Ned, with great enthusiasm. “I’ll go with you.”