had Tom with me of late, because he seems somewhat isolated from
the other two boys by his nature, and though no younger than Jo he is
smaller and this makes me regard him more carefully.

"He is an exceedingly bright lad, though cursed with a rather sharp
tongue. The other two, like to stir him up, and since his return from
the east they make life interesting for him by joking him about being a
tenderfoot.

"Jo is an interesting boy, and though he is fond of books, I predict
that he will be a soldier. He is obedient to orders, and will gain
self-reliance as he goes along. Physically, he is quick, and has great
endurance.

"Jim is the oldest and the leader. He has in him the making of an ideal
scout. He is resourceful, cool headed and has great audacity, which will
be tempered by experience as he goes along. Jim has also uncommon
physical strength, superior to that of most men.

"The West is fine training ground for these three, and it will make men
of them. Sometime they may be of real service to their country and if I
can teach them anything from my experience I will consider it a
privilege.

"Now, I must chronicle something of Tom's and my hunting trip and the
subsequent adventures that befell us.

"Jo and Jim took their cayuses and went down the canyon, where we had
made camp, to the plains, looking for antelope, while Tom and I went
back in the mountains to see if we could not locate some mountain sheep.

"I remembered hunting through this region in the old days, some years
after the Mexican War, and at that time it was a splendid section for
big game, but now I did not expect to find a great deal, for the Apaches
were hunting this region continually.

"We worked our way slowly back into the range, but saw no game until
near the middle of the afternoon when Tom discovered three goats high up
on a cliff. Tom's eyes are remarkably keen. In this he excels his two
brothers, and mine are beginning to show the effect of the years.

"The goats saw us coming and jumped up the side of that apparently
precipitous rock, nimble as fleas. I knew perfectly well how they would
make tracks, so we took a wide detour and came into a high valley on the
other side.

"We could just make out two white specks among some rocks at the top of
the valley and we approached them under cover, but they were wary and I
was finally forced to risk a chance shot.

"Two of them had disappeared over the ridge of the valley to the west,
b