"Well, as to that," said Jack with a fierce look of assumed heartlessness, "ef it'd be any accommodation to you we might be able to rig up some sort of a gallows out about the barn an' swing you off to-night so's you wouldn't have to stan' there all night. Come to think of it," he continued, turning to Tom and me, "that would be a good scheme for us as well as to put the prisoner out of his misery, fer ef we hang him to-night instead of waitin' till mornin' we'll save ourselves the trouble of standing guard over him, an' that's quite an item. What do you say to it?" But Tom and I decided that with no better light than a candle, which the wind might blow out, the jayhawker might escape, and if he didn't we would not be able to do a good job of hanging with so poor a light. And the prisoner concluded that he would try and worry through the night on the wagon wheel rather than put us to so much inconvenience. CHAPTER VIII TOM'S STRATEGY Calling us inside the tent and changing our bayonet candlestick to a position where it would be protected from the wind, while the light would still shine on the prisoner through the open tent door, Tom, in a low voice, began giving us the talk that we intended Tucker should overhear. "Now, men," began the old man, "the objects of our expedition are so nearly accomplished that I thought I'd better explain the situation to you more fully so that you will clearly understand the parts you are to play in our future movements. Everything is working out, so far, just as the captain planned it. I don't believe that anybody along the road or any of these jayhawkers suspects us of being soldiers or anything else but jest what we've told 'em, that we are three wolf hunters goin' out to the buffalo range. There's nothin' military about our team an' camp outfit except the Sibley tent an' our rifles, an' lots of citizens use them; an' laying aside our uniforms an' puttin' on these new buckskin togs makes us look like three tenderfeet tryin' to imitate frontiersmen. I must give our captain credit for long-headedness, for 'twas him planned the whole expedition." "An' I give the captain credit," interrupted Jack, "for selectin' a sergeant, among all the non-coms of the company, who could carry out his plans to the letter." "Thanks," returned Tom with a wink. "An' the two privates that were selected to go with the sergeant shows that our captain knows his men." "Now," continued Tom, "ef things turn out as they look now, I think our trip'll end right here, for we've got our game purty nigh bagged. The captain, with the company, has kept just far enough behind us to keep out of sight, an' to-night they're about ten miles back on the road; an' ef he gits the message I sent to him this afternoon, which I'm sure he will, they ought to be here, or over about the store, rather--for there's where I promised to meet 'em--a little after midnight."