by Mr. Hobart's advice, finally consisted of two
pairs of double blankets, rolled up in a rubber sheet and securely
corded, two pairs of easy, laced walking-shoes, and one pair of leather
leggings, three flannel shirts, three suits of under-clothing, and six
pairs of socks, one warm coat, two pairs of trousers, a soft, gray felt
hat, half a dozen silk handkerchiefs, and the same number of towels. Of
these he would wear, from the start, the hat, coat, one of the flannel
shirts, one of the two pairs of trousers, a suit of under-clothing, one
of the silk handkerchiefs knotted about his neck, and one of the pairs
of shoes. All the rest could easily be got into a small leathern valise,
which would be as much of a trunk as he would be allowed to carry.

He would need a stout leather belt, to which should be slung a good
revolver in a holster, a common sheath-knife, that need not cost more
than thirty cents, and a small tin cup that could be bought for five.

Besides these things, Mrs. Matherson, who loved the boy as though he
were her own, tucked into the valise a small case of sewing materials, a
brush, comb, cake of soap, tooth-brush, hand-glass, and a Testament in
which his name was written.

On the very day of his departure his adopted father presented the
delighted boy with a light rifle of the very latest pattern. It was, of
course, a breech-loader, and carried six extra cartridges in its
magazine. In its neat canvas-case, Glen thought it was the very
handsomest weapon he had ever seen, and the other boys thought so too.

With them he was the hero of the hour, and even Binney Gibbs's
glittering prospects were almost forgotten, for the time being, in this
more immediate excitement.

Of course they all gathered at the railway station to see him start on
the morning of the appointed day. It seemed as though almost everybody
else in the village was there, too. Binney Gibbs was among the very few
of Glen's acquaintances who did not come. So, amid tears and laughter,
good wishes and loud cheerings, the train rolled away, bearing Glen Eddy
from the only home he had ever known towards the exciting scenes of the
new life that awaited him in the far West.

Chapter VII.

ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI.

Never before, since he was first carried to Brimfield as a baby, had
Glen been away from there; so, from the very outset, the journey on
which he had now started, in company with Mr. Hobart, was a wonderful
one. In school,