TOM'S STRATEGY 



on leaving the store, Jack says, an' they'll be apt 

 to go right to sleep on gettin' to camp an' think 

 no more about it till mornin'. An' ef they do hap- 

 pen to miss him they'll think he got too drunk to 

 git back to camp an' so laid out some'ers. 



"Now, Jack," said Tom in concluding this con- 

 versation, "you may as well put that candle out 

 an' take post outside where you kin keep an eye 

 on the prisoner. An', Peck, you'll take a turn 

 around camp, to see that the animals are all tied 

 securely, an' then turn in, an' you an* me'll be 

 tryin' to get what sleep we can afore it's time for 

 us to go on." 



As we came out of the tent the captive seemed 

 to be just rousing up from a nap he pretended to 

 have been taking and whined: 



"Men, would you mind loosenin' these strings 

 around my wrists and ankles a little mite? 

 They're cuttin' into my flesh." 



"Well," replied Tom compassionately, "we 

 don't want to torture a man unnecessarily. It'll 

 be enough to put him to death properly, when the 

 time comes, without keepin' him a-sufferin' so 

 long. Loosen up them cords a little, Jack. There 

 won't be much danger of his gettin' away, without 

 you should go to sleep, an' I know you won't do 

 that." 



Jack complied with Tom's instructions with ap- 

 parent reluctance, grumbling as he did so. He 

 purposely slackened the cords on the wrists so 



77 



