the door. They had had enough of
Sam's stories.

It is a rule for the last one that gets into bed to put out the light;
but a lazy fellow will crawl into bed and, taking aim, extinguish the
light by firing off his pistol at the flame!

A "Ranch" is simply a one-story log-house, with two or three rooms, and
a thatched roof of straw. Sometimes they are made of a-do-be,--a kind
of dried clay-brick, such as are found in Mexico and some parts of
California and Texas.

A BRAVE BOY AND SOME INDIANS.

When the railroad had been built as far as Plum Creek, two hundred and
thirty miles west of Omaha, in 1866, the track-layers saw a lot of
Indians coming toward them from over the bluffs; and the poor Irishmen,
dreading nothing so much as the sight of a red-skin, at once took to
their heels to hide from the foe. Along with these men were needed
covered wagons, with which they carried tools, etc., and in which at
night they slept. In one of them a boy was sitting, about twelve or
fourteen years of age. He saw nothing of the stampede of workmen, but
soon was aroused by the yell of the Indians. He seized a Spencer rifle
lying close by him, and, putting the muzzle through a slit of the
canvas cover, took good aim at the foremost Indian, and when within a
few yards, he shot off his rifle and felled him to the ground. Another
rode up, and met the same fate. Several then rushed up and dragged off
the bodies of the two Indians slain, and all at once made a quick
retreat!

The Indians seeing several wagons there, supposed each one contained
armed soldiers or men; and they were quick to see that the white man's
skill was more than their bows and arrows. And yet there was only that
brave little fellow, who saved the whole "_outfit_," and whose name
ought to be recorded as a true hero.

AN INDIAN MEAL.

Boys would be surprised to see how much an Indian can eat at a single
meal. A "big chief" can eat a whole goose or turkey at one sitting. The
Indians eat right along, till they have gorged themselves and can eat
no more. Perhaps it is because they seldom get what is called "a square
meal," and so when plenty offers they make the most of it. One day,
four chiefs of the Ar-ap-a-hoe tribe came to Fort Russell, to see about
getting rations for three hundred of their tribe. They soon found their
way to the commanding officer, at headquarters. He gave each one a
cigar, which they puffed away at for some time. At last one of t