Tom did not raise his head or utter a sound. He could not find words with which to deny the accusation. CHAPTER XII. OSCAR TALKS TO THE COLONEL. “What shall I do with the clothes?” continued Oscar. “Shall I bring them to you, or would you rather go up to the sutler’s and pick them out for yourself?” “I’d rather you would bring them to me,” answered Tom, without looking at his brother. “Bring them to the mouth of the ravine, and I will meet you there—say in a couple of hours. You had better not come in here again, for my partner is an odd sort of a fellow, and doesn’t like to have any strangers about his camp. If I shouldn’t happen to be on hand when you come back, don’t wait for me. Just hide the clothes in the bushes at the foot of a big rock you will see there, and I’ll find them. You will know what rock I mean when you see it, for there is a large oak tree leaning over it. Good-by till I see you again.” While Oscar was listening to what his brother had to say in regard to the disposal of the clothing, something told him that Tom did not intend to be at the place appointed to receive them. Impressed with this idea, and believing that it would be a long time before he would meet him again,—if, indeed, he ever met him,—he resolved to extort from him a promise that he would not only withdraw from the companionship of such men as the one he had seen in the sage-brush, but that he would make an honest and persevering effort to refund the money he had stolen, and regain a place among reputable people. But he did not have time to say a word, for Tom’s good-by was an abrupt dismissal. That he intended it should be taken as such was proved by his actions. As soon as he ceased speaking, he caught up the axe and plunged into the bushes. “Don’t leave me in that way. I want to say something more to you,” cried Oscar. He listened intently for a reply, but the only one he received was the echo of his own voice thrown back from the cliffs. He called again, with no better success, and then, unhitching his pony, he sprang upon his back, and slowly and sadly rode down the ravine. He turned in his saddle occasionally, to run his eye over the thicket in which Tom had disappeared; but he could see nothing of him, and finally a sudden turn in the road shut the camp out from his view. The exhilarating gallop Oscar had enjoyed on his new pony had done much to cure his homesickness and banish the gloomy thoughts that had crowded upon him when he saw Leon Parker setting out for the States; but the events of the last half hour had brought them all back again. He had never dreamed that he would stumble upon his brother in that wilderness, or that he would ever see him in a condition so deplorable.