Two Boys in Wyoming: A Tale of Adventure: (Northwest Series, No. 3)Ellis, Edward Sylvester
General
Two Boys in Wyoming: A Tale of Adventure: (Northwest Series, No. 3)
Ellis, Edward Sylvester
Frontier and pioneer life -- Wyoming -- Juvenile fiction; Western stories; Wyoming -- Juvenile fiction
"I am glad to hear you say that. I wonder whether, if we stayed out here
a few years, our feelings would change?"
"No; for the principle of right and wrong cannot change. Do you remember
what that old settler told us on the train, a couple of days ago?"
"I do not recall it."
"He said that at a little town in Montana they had a great moral
question under debate for a long time without being able to decide it.
It was whether it was wicked for the men to go out hunting for Indians
on Sunday. It was all right on week days, but most of the folks seemed
to think it was a violation of the sanctity of the day to indulge in the
sport on the Sabbath. But, Jack, you are tired and in need of sleep.
I'll take charge of matters until two o'clock."
"I wonder whether anything will happen to you? It does not seem likely,
for I must have given that fellow such a scare that he will not show
himself again."
"But you mustn't reason on the basis that he is the only red man in
Wyoming. However, I shall do my best. Good-night."
Thus summarily dismissed, Jack returned to the camp-fire in quest of the
slumber which he needed. Fred had thrown additional wood on the blaze,
and that accounted for the increase in illumination. Hank Hazletine did
not seem to have stirred since lying down. He breathed heavily, and
doubtless was gaining the rest which men of his habits and training know
how to acquire under the most unfavorable circumstances. The youth
wrapped his blanket about his figure, for he was now sensible that the
air was colder than at any time since leaving the railway station. He
was nervous over the recollection of his experience, though it would
have been deemed of slight importance to one who had spent his life in
the West. The feeling soon passed off, however, and he joined the
veteran in the land of dreams.
And thus the burden of responsibility was shifted to the shoulders of
Fred Greenwood, the junior by a few months of Jack Dudley. No one could
have been more deeply impressed with his responsibility than Fred. He
knew that a hostile red man had entered the grove while two of the party
were asleep, and, but for the watchfulness of the sentinel, might have
slain all three.
"I don't know much about Indians," reflected Fred, "but I have been told
that they are a revengeful people. That fellow must be angered because
he was outwitted by Jack, and it will be just like him to steal back for
the purpose of revenge. It won't do for me to wink both eyes at the same
time."
This was a wise resolution, and the youth took every precaution against
committing what was likely to be a fatal mistake. Although his sleep was
broken, and he could have consumed several hours additional with
enjoyment, he was never more wide-awake. The temptation was strong to
sit down on the ground with his back against a tree, but he foresaw the
consequences. The man who yields only for a few minutes to the creeping
drowsiness is gone.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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