Accordingly the animals, as well as Bray the pack mule, were brought in closer to the tent. They had been given ample time to procure a supper, and should rest contented during the remainder of the night. It was a toss-up between the two experienced cowboys as to which should take the first watch. Billie, quite satisfied to see them so eager to sit up, did all he knew how to settle the matter. “Here, let me be the umpire, and hold these two straws in my hand,” he remarked, complacently; “now, one of them is just a mite shorter than the other; and whoever gets the short one is to play sentry first watch, hear that. You draw, Donald!” Thereupon the party indicated proceeded to do as he was directed, and with the utmost unconcern, as though it mattered not at all to him what his luck might be. “And you’re on deck the first thing!” announced Billie, exultantly, as he held up the remaining straw, so that they could all see it was longer than the one Donald had selected. “Great luck, that!” the picked vidette remarked, laughingly; “for I was bound to take first choice anyhow, no matter what Ad said. But you closed him up by your little dodge, Billie, and for that thanks. Are you thinking of going inside, and getting your forty winks right now, fellows?” They said they had intentions along those same lines, if he thought he could manage things without their help; at which Donald pretended to chase the pair to cover; and then remarked that he would find a good vantage place, where he might stand out his spell as guardian of the camp. Perhaps Billie may not have been altogether free from anxieties as he composed himself under his blanket on that same night. The fact that hostile Indians were hovering around, with the intention of stealing their valuable mounts, caused him to feel a certain amount of nervousness. He feared that he would not be able to go to sleep as easily as was his custom; and that during the entire term of Donald’s watch he must just lie there, thinking and listening. Six minutes after crawling under the canvas Billie’s regular breathing convinced Adrian that the fat boy was entirely oblivious to all his surroundings; and that whatever his mental troubles might be, they had for the time being vanished like the mist before the rising sun; for slumber deadens one to the cares of this world, better than anything else that is known. Adrian himself also went to sleep, but it was in an entirely different way. He simply resolutely put all thoughts out of his mind, and in this way coaxed his senses to allow themselves to be lulled to rest. Habit can do much along these lines. He may have been sleeping ten minutes, or perhaps it was a couple of hours; for Adrian could not even give a guess as to the truth when he was suddenly awakened by a shot outside.