ywhere it pleased, here to-day
and a hundred miles away to-morrow, Tom was obliged to confess that
there was more of a ghost about it than he was at first willing to
suppose. But there was his horse with the broken lariat! No ghost could
do a thing like that.

"You see, I shall spend to-morrow in gathering in my traps," said Elam.
"I may not come back, you know, and I don't want to leave them out where
everybody can steal them, and when they are all in, I shall be ready to
start."

When Elam said this, Tom picked up a burned chunk, threw it on the fire,
and laid down again. If Elam thought he wasn't going to come back, what
was the use of his visiting the pocket? Tom had about concluded that he
would not go.

"No, I may not come back," said Elam, anxious that Tom should learn just
how desperate the undertaking was, "and while I don't want to have my
traps stolen, I want to leave them where someone can use them. Then I
will pack my spelter on my horse and go to the nighest post--it is just
a jump from here--and trade it off for provisions. We can easy get them
as far as here."

"Yes; but what will you do from here on? You won't have any bronco to
carry them for you."

"We will pack it on our backs. It's a poor hunter who can't go into the
woods and carry provisions enough for two weeks."

"And what if the Red Ghost appears? The first thing it will pitch into
will be ourselves. I don't think I will go. I have got all over
prospecting for gold, and wish that summer might come so that I can go
to work herding cattle."

"Well, I know what will happen to you then," said Elam.

"Well, what will happen to me then?" said Tom, after waiting for his
companion to finish what he had on his mind.

"You'll go plumb crazy; that's what will happen to you. You will be set
to riding the line----"

"What's that?" interrupted Tom.

"Why, riding up and down a fence, or rather where the fence ought to be,
to see that none of your cattle break away. It will take you two days to
make a trip, and you will get so tired of it that you will finally skip
out and leave the line to take care of itself. But all right. You go to
bed and sleep on it, and if it doesn't look better in the morning, I'll
say no more about it. I will go by myself."

With something like a sigh of regret Elam turned over and prepared to go
to sleep. There was no undressing, no handling of blankets, but just as
he was he was all ready to go to slumber. Tom felt s