Part 38 (1/2)
”Where am I?” he asked, looking about him wildly, and he instinctively felt for his scalp, which he was relieved to find still in its place.
”What's the matter?” asked the leader. ”What made you fire?”
”I--I thought it was the Indians,” faltered Peabody. ”I thought I heard their horrid war-whoop.”
”Not very complimentary to the Indians to compare them with donkeys,”
said Miles.
Lawrence Peabody was excused from duty for the remainder of the night, his place being taken by Miles and Tom in turn.
It was a long time before he heard the last of his ridiculous panic, but he was not sensitive as to his reputation for courage, and he bore it, on the whole, pretty well.
CHAPTER XXVI.
MR. PEABODY IS WORSTED.
The traveler of to-day who is whirled across the continent in six days and a half has little conception of what the overland journey was in the year 1850. Week after week and month after month slipped away between the start and the arrival on the western slope of the Sierra Nevadas. Delicate women and children of tender years developed extraordinary endurance, and showed remarkable fort.i.tude on the wearisome trip. But the hope of bettering their fortunes was the magnet that drew them steadily on, day after day, in their march across the plains.
Tom was at an age when adventure has a charm. His feet were often weary; but he never tired of the journey. Every morning found him active, alert, and ready for the toilsome walk. He was, indeed, impatient for the time to come when he could be earning something to pay up his debt to Squire Hudson, and so relieve his father from the additional burden a.s.sumed for his sake. Otherwise he was quite content to plod on, seeing something new every day.
”You're always cheerful, Tom, my lad,” said Ferguson, one day.
”Yes,” said Tom. ”I am having a good time.”
”Youth is aye the time for enjoyment. When I was a lad like you I might have been the same.”
”Don't you enjoy the journey, Mr. Ferguson?” asked Tom.
”I'm getting tired of it, Tom. I look upon it as a means to an end. I'm in a hurry to reach the mines.”
”So am I, Mr. Ferguson, for that matter.”
”And I can't help thinking, what if they don't turn out as well as we expect? Then there'll be months lost, besides a good bit of money,”
replied Ferguson.
”Oh, I'm sure there is plenty of gold, and we shall get our share,” said Tom confidently; ”that is, if we have our health.”
”I hope it'll be as you say, my lad. Indeed, I think you are right. You have taught me a lesson.”
”Have I, Mr. Ferguson? What is it?”
”Always to look on the bright side. It is a lesson worth learning. It makes a man feel happier, and often gives courage to press on to the accomplishment of his purpose.”
”I suppose it is natural to me,” said Tom.
”It is a happy gift. It is a pity that poor creature from Boston hadn't it.”
Lawrence Peabody was approaching, and this no doubt led to the allusion.