THE WOLF HUNTERS 



more faith in his judgment than in our own. We 

 asked him to go ahead and give us the further 

 details of his plan so far as he had thought them 

 out. 



"First," Tom said, *'we must get what we abso- 

 lutely need, and if we have any money left after 

 that we can buy luxuries. For grub we'd better 

 take about the same as government rations — flour, 

 bacon, beans, coffee, sugar, rice, and salt. A 

 Sharp's rifle and a Colt's navy apiece, with plenty 

 of cartridges, will be all the arms we'll want, and, 

 besides the clothing we already have, each man 

 ought to have a good suit of buckskins. These 

 are better than any cloth for wear and to keep off 

 the wind. We can make overcoats, caps, and mit- 

 tens out of furs as soon as we take a few pelts and 

 dress them. Most of these things we can get here 

 before we are discharged. The first sergeants of 

 the cavalry companies often have some of these 

 things over and will sell them to us for very little 

 money." 



How about tobacco and pipes?" asked Jack. 

 'Tobacco don't come under the head of general 

 supplies, and, as Peck don't use it, every man will 

 have to buy his own tobacco." 



"How about whiskey?" asked Jack, for he had 

 a weakness for liquor. 



Tom answered him quickly: "There'll be no 

 whiskey taken along if I am to have any say in 

 the plans for the expedition. When we leave the 



4 





