cause git he did, an' he ain't ever come
back to claim his mansion. Then, jest havin' strength enough left to
bind up my head, I fell over into a sleep, an' I reckon I slep' 'bout
three days an' three nights, 'cause I ain't got any idea how much time
hez passed sence I left you that night, Henry.

"But I felt better after my long sleep, though still weak an' wobbly.
I'd hev made myself some herb tea, but I wuz beginnin' to git
tre-men-jeous-ly hungry. Managed to watch at a spring not far from here
until a deer came down to drink one night, an' I shot him. Been livin'
on deer meat since then, an' waitin' fur my headache to go away.
Expected you an' Sol or one uv you would come fur me."

Tom stopped abruptly and took a mighty breath. He did not make so long a
speech more than once a year, and he felt mentally exhausted.

"Well, we've found you, Tom," said Henry joyfully.

"Ef you hadn't come, I'd have started myself in a day or two to find
_you_," said Ross.

"I don't wonder that Injun bullet turned aside, when it run ag'in Tom
Ross' skull," said the shiftless one. "That shorely wuz a smart bullet.
It knowed it wuzn't worth while to beat its head ag'in a rock."

"Don't be impydent, Sol," said Tom with a quiet chuckle. "Now that we
three are together ag'in, I s'pose the next thing fur us to do is to
track Jim Hart to his hidin' place."

"That comes next," said Henry.

It did not occur to any of the three that Long Jim might have been
slain. Their belief in their own skill, endurance, and good fortune, was
so great that they did not reckon on anything more than a wound, fever,
and exhaustion.

"I believe we'd better stop here to-night," said Shif'less Sol. "Tom can
widen his den, and all three of us kin sleep in it."

Henry and Tom agreed. Silent Tom, although he said little, was greatly
rejoiced over the coming of his comrades, and he brought from the fork
of a tree his store of deer meat, of which they ate. Then, in accord
with the shiftless one's suggestion, they widened the den, and the three
slept there, turns being taken at the watch.

Henry had the last turn, and it was about two o'clock in the morning
when he was awakened for it. Shif'less Sol, who had awakened him,
instantly fell asleep, and Henry sat at the edge of the lair, his rifle
across his knees, and his eyes turned up to the great stars, which were
twinkling in a magnificent blue sky.

Henry had imbibed much of the Indian lore and belief. It w