192 Life of a Fossil Hunter 



other side. I refused, however, to be moved by his 

 arguments. I told him that I meant to go back, and 

 that he was to go with me. We could not leave 

 Jake there in camp, entirely unconscious of the fate 

 that might be approaching him. He knew nothing 

 of the proximity of hostile Indians, and it was our 

 duty to warn him. 



" Well," Bill said, " I am going to look out for 

 number one. I have not lost any Indians. If you 

 have, go and hunt trouble. Let Jake look out for 

 himself." 



All my shells, perhaps three hundred, were empty, 

 but I had plenty of powder and lead, and the best 

 long-range rifle I had ever owned, a heavy Sharp's 

 weighing fourteen pounds, and shooting a hundred 

 and twenty grains of lead and seventy grains of 

 powder. I set to work cleaning and oiling it; and 

 then spent the whole night in front of the fireplace, 

 melting lead, casting bullets, and loading shells. 

 Bill also stayed awake, and with his needle-gun kept 

 guard at a porthole which commanded a good view 

 of the open ground around the house. 



The next morning I started alone on my pony to 

 follow the trail to the Cove, where Jake, unconscious 

 of danger, was at work in the fossil beds. It seemed 

 an interminable journey, and I thought that there 

 was an ambuscade behind every bush and pile of 

 rocks that guarded the road. But, greatly relieved, 



