and he wished that he
had let the wolf-skins go and stayed at home with Tom. But the surgeon's
first words reassured him.

"Of course the major will see you," said he cheerfully. "He will want to
see you the minute he comes back. He has gone out after the hostiles
now. You can sit here till he comes back."

"I have got a horse out here that is badly hurt, and if you don't
object, I'll go out and look at him," said Elam.

"Eh? Objections? Certainly not," said the surgeon, in surprise. "I hope
you will get along as nicely as he will. Only be careful of that hand of
yours."

Elam had never been to the fort before, and he felt like a cat in a
strange garret while he loitered about looking at things. He first went
to see his horse, and found that, under the skilful hands of the
veterinary surgeon, he had fared as well as he did, for his neck was
bound up, and he was engaged in munching some hay that had been provided
for him. Then he went out of the stockade to see how the hostiles were
getting on, but found that they and the cavalrymen had long ago
disappeared. An occasional report of a carabine, followed by an
answering yell, came faintly to his ears, thus proving beyond a doubt
that the savages had "scattered," thus making it a matter of
impossibility to hunt them. After that Elam came back and loafed around
the stockade to see what he could find that was worth looking at. The
doors of the officers' apartments were wide open, and, although they
were very plainly furnished, Elam looked upon it as a scene of
enchantment. He had never seen anything like it before. He had heard of
carpets, sofas, and pictures, but he had never dreamed that they were
such beautiful things as he now saw before him.

"I tell you, I wish I was a soldier," whispered Elam, going from one
room to the other, and stopping every time he saw anything to attract
his attention. "This is a heap better than I've got at home. Uncle Ezra
Norton is rich, but he hasn't got anything to compare with this. Wait
until I get my nugget, and I will have something to go by. I do wish the
major would hurry up."

But Elam had a long time to wait before he could see the major, for the
latter did not return until nearly nightfall. When they came, they
looked more like whipped soldiers than victorious ones. They had two
dead men with them, three that had been wounded, and half a dozen
Indians that they had taken prisoners. Elam looked for an execution at
once, but