Comrades of the Saddle Part 2

And as neither their father nor mother interposed any objections, the boys telephoned the message to the operator at Bramley, who promised to send it at once.

CHAPTER III

WORD FROM THE WEST

Anxiously the two brothers waited for some news from the West and in the meantime got ready for the trip to Scotland.

"Oh, I don't want to go to Scotland!" sighed Tom. "I want to go to the ranch."

"Well, we've got to take what comes," answered his brother.

The boys went down to town and said good-by to their school chums.

All were sorry they were going away and said they would be missed from the baseball team.

Returning to the farm, their mother met them with a peculiar smile on her face.

"Any news?" they asked eagerly.

"Yes, word came over the telephone a while ago."

"And what Is it, ma?"

"The Wilders say to come and----"

"Hooray!"

"And not to bring a trunk," finished the mother. "The idea of two boys going away all summer without a trunk!"

"Of course we won't need a trunk!" declared Tom. "From the time we reach the ranch till we start for home I don't intend to wear a white s.h.i.+rt or collar."

"When we get out there we can buy some cowboy outfits," said Larry.

"Hooray for Tolopah!"

The receipt of the message, which had been telephoned by the agent at Bramley while the boys were on their way back from the town, was more of a relief than either Larry or Tom was willing to acknowledge. And they ate their food with greater relish in the certainty that their dream of going to live on a ranch was to come true.

Each was absorbed in his own thoughts when the voice of their father roused them.

"Now that it's decided you are going West," he was saying, "I reckon I'll go over to Olmsted and make sure about our steamer tickets. We won't have any too much time in New York. You boys can go with me if you like."

Glad of the opportunity, the boys finished their dinner quickly and were soon whirling over the hard clay road behind their father's span of spirited horses.

"I've decided to give each of you two hundred and fifty dollars,"

said Mr. Alden, as though expressing his thoughts out loud.

"Phew! Two hundred and fifty dollars! That's more money than I ever had all at once," exclaimed Tom in delight. "Think of having all that to spend, Larry."

"But you mustn't spend it all," warned their father. "I was going to say when you interrupted, Tom, that out of this money you must pay your railroad tickets, for your berths to sleep in, and for your meals. These things will amount to about seventy-five dollars, I should think."

"But that will still leave us one hundred and seventy-five dollars," declared Tom.

"True enough, but don't forget it will cost seventy-five dollars to get back. If I were you, when you get to the ranch, I would give the money for your return tickets to Mr. Wilder. He'll keep it for you, so you'll be sure not to spend it.

"It's a thing you ought always to remember when you take a trip of any distance--always save enough out of your money to carry you back home"

The boys promised to do as their father suggested, and the farmer continued:

"This will be your first experience with the world, and I don't want you to forget the things your mother and I have taught you.

"It takes bad men as well as good to make up life, and somehow it seems as though the bad men had the easiest time of it. You'll find gamblers and others who live by their wits in Tolopah.

They'll try to be pleasant to you because you are young, and when they learn you are from the East they will try to get your money away from you.

"You must also be careful to whom you speak on the train. Under no conditions mention anything about the money you have with you. A lot of people, when they have any substantial sum, either like to show it In some way or to talk about it, and then, if they happen to be robbed of it, they wonder. Remember you can't recognize a thief by his clothes, and lots of the slickest of them travel about the country."

With this and other advice Mr. Alden counseled his sons, and so interested did they become in what he told them about the country of which they were soon to have their first glimpse that they were in Olmsted almost before they knew it.

Going first to the bank, Mr. Alden drew out the money for his sons, obtained a letter of credit for himself and then arranged to purchase his steams.h.i.+p tickets in Pittsburg, whither all four travelers were going together.

When they reached home Mrs. Alden had finished her packing and all was practically ready for the start on the morrow.

After supper the farmer and his wife drove to Bramley to say good-by to their friends, but the two chums decided to stay at home.

Eager to be on their way, it seemed to Larry and Tom that the hours never pa.s.sed so slowly. They tried to read, but in place of the print on the pages pictures of cowboys and bucking bronchos danced before their eyes, and they soon shut their books.

"Wish we'd gone with father and mother," exclaimed Tom. "It's more stupid here than saying good-by."

But scarcely were the words out of his mouth when the door opened and in came an old friend named Silas Haskins, a former gold miner.

"I got to go to Husted to-morrow, so I came over to-night to say 'so long,'" he said in explanation of his call.

Cordially the boys made him welcome, and the time pa.s.sed quickly when they had led Silas round to talking about his adventures in the far West.

When at last the gold miner rose to go he said:

"I brung some presents for you. They'll be useful in the West."

And from his pockets Silas drew forth two fine big jackknives and two long pieces of thong.

"They're both the same, so you won't need to quarrel about 'em," he smiled as he handed their presents to each.

The boys were deeply touched by such evidence of friends.h.i.+p from their aged friend and were profuse in their thanks when he again put his hands in his pockets and produced two little bags made of buckskin and attached to a stout strip of the same strong material.

"I don't know how you're intending to carry your money," he began, "but----"

"Why in our pockets," interrupted Larry.