'Well, that's good! I see Señor has taken to you, boy,' he said approvingly. 'He can't abide strangers as a rule, so I take it as a sign as we'll get on all right.' Pedro was a good nurse, and looked after Jack so well that in a few days he was able to get up for a bit and sit at the tent-door. He was very weak, and Pedro told him it was madness to think of trying to continue his journey for some time. When Jack was strong enough to tell him his story, Pedro proved a most interested listener. 'An' where are your folks now?' he asked. 'Over on the Cochetopa Creek,' answered Jack. 'Why, that's way over t'other side o' the range. You'll never get across the mountain pass alone,' exclaimed Pedro. 'It ain't safe for a child to wander up there with no one near him. There's bears an' mountain lions--let alone the timber wolves! You'd be eaten, boy, afore you'd crossed the divide.' Jack shuddered. He was afraid of bears. He had never seen one, but they had always been a terror to him. 'I'm terrible afraid o' bears,' he said truthfully; 'but p'raps I'd meet someone going over as would let me go with them.' 'You might,' agreed Pedro; 'but winter's coming on fast, an' it'll be bad getting over the range after November comes. You bide here for a few weeks with me until my boss comes over again, an' I promise you as he'll help you along a bit. He'll be right along shortly to bring me flour an' grub, an' to look at the sheep.' And so it was decided that Jack should stay on with the Mexican until Mr. Stuart came again, when they would ask him his opinion as to the wisest course for Jack to take to get safely over the mountains. Pedro took a great fancy to his little visitor, and the quiet life in the tent was very pleasant to Jack after his rough experiences. He was astonished at the Mexican's cleverness: he seemed able to do anything with his fingers, and had a wonderful store of knowledge about plants, insects, and animals, which he had acquired by study and observation in the long, monotonous hours he spent on the prairie. Jack's clothes, which at his start from Longview were none of the best, had suffered a good deal from the wear and tear of travelling, and by the time he arrived at Pedro's tent they were nothing but rags, and his boots were all to pieces. He was much distressed at his tattered garments, whereupon Pedro said he would soon make it all right for him, and proceeded to hunt out some buckskin leather, which he had tanned himself. It was quite thin and soft, and out of it he cut a suit for Jack, and sewed it together. When the clothes were finished, Jack was delighted with them. They were so comfortable, and the leather shirt and long-fringed trousers made him look like a little cowboy. His worn-out boots hurt his feet, so his friend made him a pair of mocassin shoes, cut out of a single piece of leather, which fitted him nicely.