JACK'S RESOLUTION.
Jack could hardly get up the next morning, he was so stiff and bruised
from the beating his uncle had given him, but he was not the kind of
boy to moan and groan in bed. He dragged himself up and dressed, and
after washing and dipping his head into cool water in the back yard, he
felt better, and soon got to work, lighting the fire and getting the
things ready for breakfast. He rather dreaded meeting his Uncle Mat,
but although the man looked surly enough, he did not allude to the
occurrence of the previous evening, and after breakfast, to Jack's
relief, he left the house. The day seemed longer than usual, but Jack
finished his work at last, and hastened away to the place where he and
Steve had arranged to meet.
His cousin was already waiting there, lying on the ground, lazily
watching his horse quietly grazing the herbage near. He hailed Jack
heartily.
'Well! how did you get on last night?'
'Very badly, Steve,' returned the boy, and related how he had been
treated. Great was Steve's indignation when he heard what had taken
place and looked at Jack's bruised back.
'Poor little lad!' he said pityingly. 'He has been hard on you, I can
see. He licked me once in a rage, an' I wouldn't stay a day longer in
his house, for I hadn't done wrong. I saw him to-day, an' we had a
terrible row over you. I gave him a piece o' my mind about the way he
was keepin' you from your folks under false pretences.'
'Steve!' cried Jack suddenly, a ray of joy crossing his face, 'I've got
a plan in my head. You ran away from home, an' why shouldn't _I_?'
'Aye! but I was a big fellow over sixteen, an' you're but a little un,
not much more than a baby yet,' returned Steve.
'But I shouldn't be afraid to try,' declared Jack stoutly. 'I might
get lifts from folks goin' along the road.'
'You're right there,' exclaimed Steve. 'It isn't such a bad idea after
all. You're a plucky boy, for I never thought as you had the grit to
make a bolt on it. If you're sure you aren't frightened to go so far
alone, I do believe as I might be able to help you a bit on your way.'
'Could you, Steve?' cried Jack. 'Oh! do tell me how.'
'Well! There's a waggon here now belongin' to some miners who are on
their way to the "Rockies" to prospect. I know one o' them, an' it
would be a grand scheme if he would let you go along with him. Shall I
ask him?'
'Please do,' said Jack. 'I'm ready to start any minute they want to
go, an' I promise I won't give 'em any trouble. Oh, Steve, I must get
away from here!'
'All right! I'll try an' fix it for you,' returned Steve. 'Wouldn't
it be a surprise for your folks if they saw you walk in one fine day?
I don't quite know where they live, except that they're somewhere on
the Cochetopa Creek, but I reckon if you do get that far as you'll find
'em. I'll see the miner to-morrow. He's campin' t'other side o' the
village. I guess he won't object to takin' you, as I'll tell him
you're a handy little chap. I believe I'd have gone an' seen you safe
there myself, but I'm goin' to look after cattle down on the Huerfano.'
'You are good to me, Steve!' cried Jack, throwing his arms round the
cowboy's neck and hugging him. 'I thought you'd save me somehow, an' I
do love you so.'
'There! That'll do, young un,' said Steve good-naturedly. 'Go home
an' keep quiet, for if that woman gets wind o' our plans, it'll be all
up, for she ain't goin' to give up a slavey like you. But, look here!
How shall I let you know if he'll take you?' as Jack was turning to go.
He stopped, and after a little more talking it was decided that Steve
was to interview the miner on Jack's behalf, and if the man agreed to
let the boy go with him to the mountains, Steve was to ride past his
father's house the next morning and wave a red handkerchief as a sign
of success.
They parted in great spirits, for both were too young to understand
what a great undertaking they were contemplating for a little child.
Jack had no notion of the distance it was to his parents' new home, and
Steve was rather vague about it. Jack's one idea was to start off and
find his father and mother somehow.
The next day Mrs. Byrne was in a very bad temper and was a great trial
to poor Jack. Nothing he could do was right in her eyes, and being in
a state of anxious excitement himself over the result of Steve's
mission, he made some trifling blunders which brought swift correction
upon him, and many a time his ear tingled from a blow from her hand.
He was busily engaged in washing the kitchen floor when he heard a
horse coming rapidly along the dusty road. He knew what it was, and,
unable to resist the temptation, he jumped up from his knees and rushed
to the door. Unluckily for him, Mrs. Byrne came in from the garden at
that moment and met him at the doorway. Seeing him, as she thought,
neglecting his work, she seized him by the arm, and pulling him back
roughly into the kitchen, said angrily, 'You lazy imp, the moment my
back's turned you leave the washin'! I thought your uncle had taught
you a lesson two nights ago; an', mark you, I'll give you another
hidin' as you'll remember if I catch you shirkin' your work.'
But Jack cared nothing for her threatening words now. In the one
glimpse he had got through the doorway he had seen Steve galloping
past, and waving in his hand the red handkerchief of success.
Hope sprang high in the boy's heart, and with a bright smile on his
face he set to work once more at the dirty floor, scrubbing with a
will. Nothing put him out again that day. He carried pail after pail
of water through the hot sun without a sigh, although it blistered his
hands, for there was a great thought of joy to cheer him on: 'The last
time for her!'
When he met Steve in the evening he heard the waggon was to start at
daybreak, and Jeff Ralston, the miner, was willing to take him as far
as the mountains if he were there in time, but on no consideration
would he wait one moment for him.
'I'll be there, never fear!' exclaimed Jack joyfully.
'This Jeff seems a rough, good-natured fellow,' went on Steve, 'an'
he'll be kind to you, I guess, if he don't get drunk. He's like my
father when he's drunk: he ain't no use at all; but there isn't much to
drink on the prairie, so I expect you'll be all right.'
Jack was quite grateful enough to please Steve, although the little boy
did not know that his kind-hearted cousin had given the miner some of
his own hard-earned dollars to secure his goodwill towards the youthful
traveller.
'You'd better get home an' to bed now,' said Steve at last, 'or you'll
miss getting up in time. I hope you'll get through safe, Jack, an'
perhaps I'll come an' look you up myself some day.'
'Good-bye, Steve; I won't ever forget you, an' I'll tell Father an'
Mother how you helped me off to see them,' said Jack gratefully, and
after an affectionate farewell the cousins parted.
Jack went to bed directly he got into the house, but never a wink of
sleep did he get. He lay quite still for hours, until the deep
breathing through the thin partitions told him that the rest of the
family were slumbering soundly. Then he arose and dressed himself.
Making no noise, and carrying his boots and a blanket which was his own
property, he quietly got out of his window, and in a few minutes was
hurrying along the road towards the outskirts of the village in the
direction of the miners' camp.
[Illustration: 'HE GOT OUT OF HIS WINDOW.']
It was a starlight night, which enabled him before very long to make
out a big prairie schooner a little way ahead of him, with four horses
tethered near by long ropes. Close up under the waggons he saw the
figures of two men sleeping on the ground, and not wishing to disturb
them, he lay down near them to wait until they awoke. But his long
hours of wakefulness had tired him out and he fell asleep.
He was aroused by a stir in camp to find preparations going on for
breakfast. He felt chilly from lying on the ground, and was not sorry
to see a nice fire of sticks burning near him. A man was putting a
kettle of water on to boil, and as Jack rose up and approached him, he
welcomed him in a gruff but not unkindly way.
'How do, kid? I reckoned I'd leave you to sleep it out? Are you the
young un as Steve Byrne came to inquire about? You want to go along
with our outfit as far as the Range, don't you?'
'Yes, please,' answered Jack. 'I'm goin' to my father. He's way over
in the San Luis Valley, up on the Cochetopa Creek.'
'_Cochetopa Creek_!' ejaculated the man. 'Why, boy, that's over two
hundred an' fifty miles from here, an' you'll have to cross the
"Rockies," too. Say, Lem,' he called out, 'here's an enterprising
young un. He's startin' off alone for Cochetopa Creek. What d'you
think o' that?'
'He'll never get there,' returned his companion, who had been looking
after the horses and came up at that moment.
'You're right, Lem, I do believe,' said the first speaker. 'Just
listen to me, boy! A kid like you can never travel so far. Take my
advice an' go back to the folks as look after you here.'
'No, I won't,' answered Jack sturdily; 'I've started now, an' I ain't
going back for no one. If you won't take me I'll go on an' walk. My
father sent for me, but my uncle won't let me go. I guess he shan't
stop me now.'
'Well, you're a plucky kid, as sure as my name's Jeff Ralston,'
declared the miner.
'How soon is grub to be ready?' asked Lem impatiently. 'I'd better
harness up the team while I'm waitin', as we want to get away soon.'
'All right. I'll call you when I've made some oatmeal porridge. Here,
kid, go to the waggon an' get out the tin cups an' plates.'
Jack obeyed, and was so quick getting out the things, he pleased Jeff,
who remarked to him, when he saw Lem was safe out of earshot: 'Look
here! Ye're a sharp lad, an' I'm glad I promised Steve Byrne as I'd do
my best for you. All the same, I'm a bit afraid as to how Lem'll take
it, for he can't abide kids, an' I haven't told him as you're a-comin'
along with us. He's my mate an' a terribly cranky chap.'
'I won't bother him a bit,' cried Jack, delighted to find one of his
escort inclined to be so friendly, and hoping to be able in time to
please the doubtful Lem too.
Jack confessed to himself he did not like the man's looks at all, and
when Jeff at breakfast intimated to him that he intended to take 'the
kid' along, he only received a disapproving 'Humph' in return. Jack,
distrusting the dark, sullen face, determined to have as little as
possible to do with him while he formed one of their party.