er Crusoe botanized or
geologized on these excursions we will not venture to say. Assuredly
he seemed as though he did both, for he poked his nose into every bush
and tuft of moss, and turned over the stones, and dug holes in the
ground--and, in short, if he did not understand these sciences, he
behaved very much as if he did. Certainly he knew as much about them
as many of the human species do.

In these walks he never took the slightest notice of Grumps (that
was the little dog's name), but Grumps made up for this by taking
excessive notice of him. When Crusoe stopped, Grumps stopped and sat
down to look at him. When Crusoe trotted on, Grumps trotted on too.
When Crusoe examined a bush, Grumps sat down to watch him; and when he
dug a hole, Grumps looked into it to see what was there. Grumps never
helped him; his sole delight was in looking on. They didn't converse
much, these two dogs. To be in each other's company seemed to be
happiness enough--at least Grumps thought so.

There was one point at which Grumps stopped short, however, and ceased
to follow his friend, and that was when he rushed headlong into the
lake and disported himself for an hour at a time in its cool waters.
Crusoe was, both by nature and training, a splendid water-dog. Grumps,
on the contrary, held water in abhorrence; so he sat on the shore of
the lake disconsolate when his friend was bathing, and waited till he
came out. The only time when Grumps was thoroughly nonplussed was when
Dick Varley's whistle sounded faintly in the far distance. Then Crusoe
would prick up his ears and stretch out at full gallop, clearing
ditch, and fence, and brake with his strong elastic bound, and leaving
Grumps to patter after him as fast as his four-inch legs would carry
him. Poor Grumps usually arrived at the village to find both dog and
master gone, and would betake himself to his own dwelling, there to
lie down and sleep, and dream, perchance, of rambles and gambols with
his gigantic friend.

CHAPTER V.

_A mission of peace--Unexpected joys--Dick and Crusoe set off for the
land of the Redskins, and meet with adventures by the way as a matter
of course--Night in the wild woods_.

One day the inhabitants of Mustang Valley were thrown into
considerable excitement by the arrival of an officer of the United
States army and a small escort of cavalry. They went direct to the
blockhouse, which, since Major Hope's departure, had become the
residence of Joe