CHAPTER IV.

AT ANTELOPE SPRING.

d.i.c.k was perplexed by the behavior of these two strangers. He failed utterly to understand why they should have anything of such a private nature to discuss that it was necessary to move aside from him; for in a few moments they would be alone on the desert, after he had gone his way.

The discussion, or conversation, whichever it may have been, did not occupy many moments; but brief as was the time, d.i.c.k had turned to continue his journey at the instant when the men rejoined him.

"What do you allow you ought to get for that rifle?" Parsons asked abruptly.

"That's what I don't know. You see, I didn't buy it new, but traded for her before we left home. It seems to me she ought to be a bargain at--at--ten dollars."

"An' if you get the cash you're goin' to blow it right in for what the doctor can tell you, an' sich stuff as he thinks your old man ought to have eh?"

"That's what I'll do if it costs as much."

"S'posen it don't? Allow that you've got five dollars left, what then?"

"I'll buy flour, an' bacon, an' somethin' for mother an' Margie with the balance."

"Do you mean to tell me your father was sich a tenderfoot as to come down through this way without any outfit?" Robinson asked sternly.

"He had plenty at the time we started; but you see we struck bad luck all the way along, and when we pulled into Buffalo Meadows we had cooked the last pound of flour. There wasn't even a bit of meat in the camp when he got shot. I knocked over a deer last night, an' that will keep 'em goin' till I get back."

"An' a kid like you is supportin' a family, eh?" Parsons asked in a kindly tone.

"I don't know what kind of a fist I'm goin' to make of it; but that's what I'll try to do till daddy gets on his feet again. Say, how long do you s'pose it'll take a man to get well when one leg is knocked endways with a bullet plum through the bone of it?"

"It'll be quite a bit, I'm thinkin'--too long for you to stay in Buffalo Meadows at this time of the year. Two months ought to do it, eh, Parsons?"

"Well, yes; he won't get 'round any quicker than that."

"I don't know as it makes much difference if he can't walk a great deal, 'cause after the horses have had plenty of gra.s.s for a couple of weeks we'll pull across this place; an' once on the other side I sha'n't worry but what I can take 'em through all right."

"Look here, my son," Robinson said, as he laid his hand on the lad's shoulder. "You've got plenty of sand, that's a fact. I allow there ain't a kid within a thousand miles of here that would tackle the contract you've taken this mornin'. If we wasn't bound to the Winnemucca Range, an it wasn't quite so late in the season, we'd help you out by goin' down to camp an' straightenin' things a bit; but it can't be done now. We'll buy your rifle though, an' that's what we've agreed on. Ten dollars ain't sich a big pile for the gun; but yet it's plenty enough--leastways, it's all we can afford to put out just now."

"I'll be mighty glad to sell it for that if you need a rifle; an'

it'll be better to make the trade now than wait till I get into Antelope Spring, 'cause there's no dead certainty I'll find anybody there who'll buy it."

Parsons took from a buckskin bag a small roll of bills, and when he had counted out ten dollars there was but little of the original amount remaining.

He handed the money to d.i.c.k; and the latter, after the briefest hesitation, held the rifle toward him.

"Sorry to give it up, eh?" Robinson asked.

"Well, I ain't when it comes to gettin' the money for daddy; if it wasn't for that I'd be. You see, it's the first one I ever owned, an'

the way things look now, it'll be a good while before I get another."

"I'll tell you how we'll fix it, son. My partner an' I ain't needin'

an extra rifle just now; an' more than as likely as not--in fact, I may say it's certain--we'll be up 'round your way before the winter fairly sets in. Now, if you could keep it for us till then, it would be the biggest kind of a favor, 'cause you see we're prospecting an'

have got about all the load the burros can tackle."

"You're--you're--sure you want to buy this gun, eh?"

"Well, if we wasn't, there wouldn't have been much sense in makin' the talk."

"But if you're prospectors, there isn't any show of your gettin'

'round to Willow Point."

"Oh, we drift up an' down, here an' there, just as the case may be.

There ain't any question about our trailin' all over the State in time, and you shall keep the rifle in good shape till we call for it.

So long, my son. It's time for you to be hoofin' it, if you count on gettin' to Antelope Spring this side of to-morrow mornin'."

As he spoke, Parsons mounted his pony, Robinson following the example; and in another moment the two were on their way once more, leaving d.i.c.k in a painful state of uncertainty regarding their purpose in purchasing the gun.

During two or three minutes the boy stood where they had left him, and then cried,--

"h.e.l.lo there! Hold on a minute, will you?"

"What's the matter now?" and Parsons looked over his shoulder, but neither he nor his partner reined in their steeds.

"Are you buyin' this rifle? or are you makin' believe so's to give me the ten dollars?"

"S'posen we was makin' believe?"

"Why then I wouldn't take the money, 'cause I ain't out begging."

"Don't fret yourself, my son. We've bought the gun all right; an' the next time we meet, you can hand it over. I wish our pile had been bigger so's we could have given twenty, 'cause a kid like you deserves it."

The hors.e.m.e.n continued on, and by this time were so far away that d.i.c.k would have been unwise had he attempted to overtake them.

He stood irresolutely an instant as if doubtful of the genuineness of this alleged business transaction.

It was as if the men feared he might attempt to overtake them; for despite the heavy loads on the burros they urged the beasts forward at their best pace, and d.i.c.k was still revolving the matter in his mind when they were a mile or more away.

"Well, it's no use for me to stand here tryin' to figure out whether they've given me this money or really mean to buy the rifle, for I've got to strike Antelope Spring between this time an' midnight. Now that there are ten dollars in my pocket, I'll be a pretty poor stick if I don't do it; but the sand-storm came mighty near windin' me up. It was the toughest thing I ever saw."

Then d.i.c.k set forward once more, toiling over the loose surface into which his feet sank three or four inches at every step; and when he finally stood on the firm soil east of this waste of shifting sand, it was two hours past noon.

As he had reckoned, there were more than thirty miles yet to be traversed; but the distance troubled him little.

He had in his possession that which would buy such knowledge and such drugs as his father might need, and he believed it would be almost a sin to rebel even in his thoughts against the labor which must be performed.

Now he advanced, whistling cheerily, with a long stride and a swinging gait that should have carried him over the trail at the rate of four miles an hour; and not until late in the afternoon did he permit himself to halt, and partake of the broiled venison.

Then he ate every morsel, and, the meal finished, said aloud with a low laugh of perfect content:--

"It's lucky I didn't bring any more; for I should eat it to a dead certainty, an' then I wouldn't be in as good trim for walkin'. Daddy always says that the less a fellow has in his stomach the easier he can get over the ground, and the poor old man never struck it truer."