He's a tricky beast; but I reckon you'll handle him without any too much trouble. The only drawback is that I can't furnish a saddle."

"If you can spare the pony, I'll get along without the fixings," d.i.c.k replied, his eyes gleaming with delight; for with such a steed he would be able to visit the town at short notice, if it should become necessary.

"I'm allowin' that I've got a saddle he can have for a spell," Mr.

Mansfield replied thoughtfully; and although d.i.c.k insisted that there was really no need of one, it was brought out.

The loungers took it upon themselves to see that the broncho was properly harnessed; and now that it was no longer necessary to limit the weight of the supplies, the shopkeeper suggested that the amount of flour and bacon be doubled.

"Will ten dollars be enough to pay for it?" d.i.c.k asked.

"We'll make a charge of it, seein's you're goin' to work for Bob Mason. You can give me an order on him after you've been here a spell, an' it'll be the same thing as cash."

"Now you're doin' the square thing, Mansfield," Mason said approvingly; and despite d.i.c.k's protests that he preferred to pay his way so long as he had the money, the matter was thus arranged.

"You are sure I can earn enough to pay for what we'll need to eat between now and spring?" the boy asked doubtfully.

"I'm allowing from what I've seen, that you'll earn a man's wages, an'

that'll be thirty dollars a month. If your father is anything like you, I'll guarantee he can find work enough to support the family; an'

Antelope Spring is needin' settlers mighty bad."

The supply of provisions and the medicines were packed in a bag, divided into two portions of equal weight that they might be carried over the saddle, and then d.i.c.k was ready to mount.

He realized fully how kind the people of the town had been to him, and was eager to say that which should give token of the grat.i.tude in his heart; but the words refused to come at his bidding.

He stammered in the attempt to speak, cleared his throat nervously, and tried again,--

"You've been mighty good, all hands, an' I'm thinkin' it'll help daddy pull through. I wish--I wish"--

"That's all right, my son," Bob Mason interrupted. "We've got a good idea of what you want to say, an' you can let it go at that. As a general thing we don't get stuck on kids; but when one flashes up in the style you have, we cotton to him mightily. You can push that 'ere broncho right along, for forty-five miles ain't any terrible big job for him, an' canter into camp this side of midnight with considerable time to spare."

"I thank you all, an' so will mother an' daddy when they get here," he said in a husky tone, as he mounted; and then waving his cap by way of adieu, he rode away, the happiest boy to be found on either side of the Rocky Mountains.

Night had not fully come when he halted at the eastern edge of the desert to give the broncho water and gra.s.s; and here he remained an hour, the crackers and cheese left from breakfast affording an appetizing supper to a lad who had known but little variation in his bill of fare from fresh meat, broiled or stewed, more often without salt or pepper.

The stars guided him on the course across the waste of sand, and the pony made his way over the yielding surface at a pace which surprised the rider.

"He can walk four miles an hour, according to this showing, and I should be in camp before ten o'clock."

In this he was not mistaken. The broncho pushed ahead rapidly, proving that he had traversed deserts before, and was eager to complete the journey; and when d.i.c.k came within sight of the wagon, his mother was standing in front of the camp-fire, so intent on broiling a slice of venison that she was ignorant of his coming until he shouted cheerily,--

"Here I am, mother dear, coming along with a good bit of style, and so many fine things that you'll open your eyes mighty wide when this bag is emptied. How is my poor old man?"

He had dismounted as he ceased speaking, and was instantly clasped in his mother's arms.

"O d.i.c.k, d.i.c.k, how sore my heart has been! Your father said you could not get across the desert on foot, and I have pictured you lying on the sands dying."

"You've made your pictures all wrong, dearie; for here I am in prime condition, and loaded down with good things. The people up at Antelope Spring have shown themselves to be mighty generous. How is daddy?"

"He is resting comfortably just now, although he has suffered considerable pain. Did you see a doctor?"

"Yes; an' am loaded way up to the muzzle with directions as to what must be done. Let's go in and see the poor old man, an' then I'll tell you both the story."

Mr. Stevens's voice was heard from the inside of the wagon as he spoke d.i.c.k's name; Margie clambered out, her big brown eyes heavy with slumber, to greet her brother, and the boy was forced to receive her caresses before it was possible to care for the broncho.

Then, as soon as might be, d.i.c.k entered the wagon, and the hand-clasp from his father was sufficient reward for all his sufferings in the desert.

It was midnight before he finished telling of his journey, and reception by the men of Antelope Spring.

He would have kept secret the peril which came to him with the sand-storm; but his father questioned him so closely that it became necessary to go into all the details, and more than once before the tale was concluded did his mother press him lovingly to her as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"You mustn't cry now it is all over," he said with a smile, as he returned the warm pressure of her hand. "I'm none the worse for havin'

been half buried, an' we're rich. I'm countin' on pullin' out of here as soon as the horses are in condition; an' we'll stay at the town till spring--perhaps longer."

Although he claimed that he was not hungry, his mother insisted on preparing supper from the seemingly ample store of provisions; and when the meal had been eaten it was so nearly morning that d.i.c.k would have dispensed with the formality of going to bed, but that his mother declared it was necessary he should gain some rest.

His heart was filled with thankfulness when he lay down under the wagon again, covered with a blanket; and perhaps for the first time in his life d.i.c.k did more than repeat the prayer his mother taught him, for he whispered very softly,--

"You've been mighty good to me, G.o.d, an' I hope you're goin' to let my poor old man have another whack at livin'."

d.i.c.k had repeated to his mother all the instructions given him by the physician, and before he was awake next morning Mrs. Stevens set about dressing the wound in a more thorough manner than had ever been possible before.

She was yet engaged in this task when the boy opened his eyes, and learning to his surprise that the day was at least an hour old, sprang to his feet like one who has been guilty of an indiscretion.

"What! up already?" he cried in surprise, as looking through the flap of the wagon-covering, he saw what his mother was doing.

"Yes, d.i.c.k dear, and I have good news for you. Both your father and I now think he was mistaken in believing the bone was shattered by the bullet. Perhaps it is splintered some, but nothing more serious."

"Then you won't be obliged to have it cut off, daddy, an' should be able to get round right soon."

"There's this much certain, d.i.c.k, whether the bone is injured or not, my life has been saved through your efforts; for I know enough about gun-shot wounds to understand that I couldn't have pulled through without something more than we were able to get here."

"Yet you would have prevented me from leaving if I had told you what was in my mind."

"I should for a fact; because if one of us two must go under, it would be best for mother an' Margie that I was that one."

"Why, daddy! you have no right to talk like that!"

"It's true, d.i.c.k. I've been a sort of ne'er-do-well, otherwise I wouldn't have been called Roving d.i.c.k, while you are really the head of the house."

"I won't listen to such talk, daddy; for it sounds as if you were out of your head again, as when we were alone that night. You'll perk up after we're at Antelope Spring, an' show the people there what you can do."

"I shall be obliged to work very hard in order to make a good showing by the side of you."

d.i.c.k hurried away, for it pained him to hear his father talk in such fashion; yet at the same time he hoped most fervently that there would be no more roaming in search of a place where the least possible amount of labor was necessary, and it really seemed as if "Roving d.i.c.k" had made up his mind to lead a different life.

There was little opportunity for the boy to remain idle.

The supplies he had brought from Mr. Mansfield's shop would not suffice to provide the family with food many days unless it was re-enforced by fresh meat; and as soon as d.i.c.k had seen to it that the horses and the broncho were safe, he made preparations for a hunting-trip.