"

"I don't care for nails," said Albert, "but I think I could gnaw
down a good-sized sapling. Hold me, Dick, or I'll be devouring a
pine tree."

Both laughed, and put as good a face on it as they could, but
they were frightfully hungry, nevertheless. But they had grown
up on farms, and they knew that the woods must contain food of
some kind or other. They began a search, and after a while they
found wild plums, now ripe, which they ate freely. They then
felt stronger and better, but, after all, it was a light diet and
they must obtain food of more sustenance.

"There are deer, of course, in this valley," said Dick, fingering
his rifle, "and sooner or later we'll get a shot at one of them,
but it may be days, and--Al--I've got another plan."

"What is it?"

"You know, Al, that I can travel pretty fast anywhere. Now those
Sioux, after cutting down the train and wiping out all the
people, would naturally go away. They'd load themselves up with
spoil and scoot. But a lot, scattered here and there, would be
left behind. Some of the teams would run away in all the shooting
and shouting. And, Al, you and I need those things! We must have
them if we are going to live, and we both want to live!"

"Do you mean, Dick, that you're going back down there in that
awful pass?"

"That's just about what I had on my mind," replied Dick
cheerfully; "and now I've got it off, I feel better."

"But you can never get back alive, Dick!" exclaimed Albert, his
eyes widening in horror at the memory of what they had seen and
heard the night before.

"Get back alive? Why, of course I will," responded Dick. "And
I'll do more than that, too. You'll see me come galloping up the
mountain, bearing hogsheads and barrels of provisions. But,
seriously, Al, it must be done. If I don't go, we'll starve to
death."

"Then I'm going, too."

"No, Al, old boy, you're not strong enough just yet, though you
will be soon. There are certainly no Sioux in this little
valley, and it would be well if you were to go back up the slope
and stay in the pine shelter. It's likely that I'll be gone
nearly all day, but don't be worried. You'll have one of the
rifles with you, and you know how to use it."

Albert had a clear and penetrating mind, and he saw the truth of
Dick's words. They went back up the slope, where he crept within
the pine shelter and lay down on the leaves, while Dick went
alone on his mission.

Chapter IV
Trea