GETTING STAETED 11 



" Those things there," he said, pointing to the 

 larger stock, "will go back to your hotel. These 

 here," and he indicated a forlorn little pile of bed- 

 ding and clothes, "will go in the train with us. 

 You'd better toss them on quickly, because we start 

 in three minutes." 



He turned and clambered on the train, leaving 

 Horace to struggle with his repacking alone. This 

 was unwise, as it turned out later, for in the proc- 

 ess he managed to slip enough medicine, books, and 

 dehydrated vegetables into his bed to earn for him- 

 self the undying enmity of the packers and doubt- 

 less of the capable little burro whose lot it was to 

 carry the load through the fastnesses of the Black 

 Eange. 



The incident had the effect of casting a temporary 

 shadow over the bright impression Horace had 

 produced the day before. I noticed that, from time 

 to time, Frazer eyed his "cracker jack cruiser" dur- 

 ing the journey to Hillsboro with a puzzled, disap- 

 pointed look which held more of sorrow than of an- 

 ger. 



We arrived at our destination the following after- 

 noon and were met at the station by Brown, whose 

 countenance was positively lugubrious. 



"What's the matter?" queried Frazer sharply. 

 "Anybody dead!" 



Brown's expression became, if anything, more 

 gloomy than before. 



"He's on one," he remarked succinctly, jerking 



