"Well, as I've got to meet the captain an' company over at the store a little after midnight, I'll lie down an' try to git a little sleep, an' you an' Jack'll have to divide the time between you, guardin' the prisoner, for, of course, I'll not be able to get back here till some time after daylight, an' when I come it'll be with the company. I guess," added Tom after a pause, "I'd better ride the jayhawkers' horse over to meet the company; he'll make a better mount for me than one of our broncos." "Yes, do so," said Jack; "he's a good one, I think." Then he added pleadingly: "But, sergeant, is they no way we could fix it so that me an' Peck could go with you on this round-up? S'pose we go out to the barn an' hang this feller to-night, or shoot him, an' say he tried to run--then we could all go." "No," replied Tom decidedly, "that won't do at all. Remember the old saying, 'It's a good soldier that obeys orders,' an' we've got our orders to hold any and all prisoners we may chance to take and turn 'em over to the captain. Much as I'd like to have both of you along, you must stay an' take care of the camp an' prisoner. But I'll speak a good word to the captain fer you, an' I think I can safely promise that you'll both be made corporals as soon as there's vacancies in the company." "Well," said Jack sorrowfully, "I suppose we'll have to stan' it; but I hate like blazes to break my promise to the jayhawker, for I told him he could depend on bein' hung at daylight." "But, sergeant," I put in, "won't the jayhawkers down at their camp, waiting for their chief, suspect something wrong when he don't show up?" "No, it ain't likely. They were all pretty full on leaving the store, Jack says, an' they'll be apt to go right to sleep on gettin' to camp an' think no more about it till mornin'. An' ef they do happen to miss him they'll think he got too drunk to git back to camp an' so laid out some'ers. "Now, Jack," said Tom in concluding this conversation, "you may as well put that candle out an' take post outside where you kin keep an eye on the prisoner. An', Peck, you'll take a turn around camp, to see that the animals are all tied securely, an' then turn in, an' you an' me'll be tryin' to get what sleep we can afore it's time for us to go on." As we came out of the tent the captive seemed to be just rousing up from a nap he pretended to have been taking and whined: "Men, would you mind loosenin' these strings around my wrists and ankles a little mite? They're cuttin' into my flesh." "Well," replied Tom compassionately, "we don't want to torture a man unnecessarily. It'll be enough to put him to death properly, when the time comes, without keepin' him a-sufferin' so long. Loosen up them cords a little, Jack. There won't be much danger of his gettin' away, without you should go to sleep, an' I know you won't do that."