“Play it, of course, Mr. Bill will play with you. What kind of a game is it?”
“I'm the Black Scout,” says Red Chief, “and I have to ride to warn the settlers that the Indians are coming. I'm tired of playing Indian myself. I want to be the Black Scout.”
“All right,” I say. “It sounds nice to me. I guess Mr. Bill will help you.”
“What am I to do?” asks Bill, looking at the kid suspiciously.
“You are the horse,” says Black Scout. “Get down on your hands and knees. How can I ride without a horse?”
Bill gets down on his all fours[13].
“How far is it, kid?” he asks.
“Ninety miles,” says the Black Scout. “And you have to get there on time. Whoa!”
The Black Scout jumps on Bill's back and digs his heels in his side.
Bill says, “Hurry back, Sam, as soon as you can.”
When I got back to the cave Bill and the boy were not there. So I lighted my pipe and sat down to wait.
In half an hour I heard the noise in the bushes, and Bill came out. Behind him was the kid, stepping softly like a scout, with a broad grin on his face. Bill stopped, took off his hat and wiped his face with a red handkerchief. The kid stopped about eight feet behind him.
“Sam,” says Bill, “The boy is gone. I have sent him home.”
“What's the problem, Bill?” I ask him.
“I was rode,” says Bill, “the ninety miles. Then, when the settlers were saved, the boy gave me some sand to eat. And then, for an hour I had to try to explain him why there is nothin' in holes, how a road can run both ways and what makes the grass green. I took him by the neck and dragged him down the mountain.
“Now he's gone,” – continues Bill – “Gone home. I showed him the road to Summit and kicked him about eight feet nearer there at one kick. I'm sorry we lose the ransom.”
Bill was puffing, but there was a look of peace and content[14] on his rose-pink face.
“Bill,” I say, “Don't you have any heart diseases?”
“No, why[15]?”
“Then you should turn around”.
Bill turns and sees the boy, sits down on the ground and begins to pluck at grass and little sticks. For an hour I was afraid for his mind. And then I told him that my plan was to make the whole job immediately and that we would get the ransom by midnight. So Bill agreed to give the kid a smile and a promise to play the Russian in a Japanese war with him as soon as he felt a little better.
Exactly on time, a boy rides up the road on a bicycle, sees the box, puts a piece of paper into it and pedals away back to Summit.
I waited for an hour and then I got down from the tree, got the note and was back at the cave in another half an hour. I opened the note and read it to Bill.
Two Desperate Men.
Gentlemen: I got your letter. I think you ask too much, and I make you my offer, which I believe you will accept. You bring Johnny home and pay me two hundred and fifty dollars, and I agree to take him back. I advise you to come at night, because the neighbours believe he is lost, and I couldn't be responsible for what they would do to anybody who brought him back.
Very respectfully,
EBENEZER DORSET.
“Sam,” said Bill, “what's two hundred and fifty dollars? We've got the money. One more night of this kid will send me in Bedlam. You aren't going to let the chance go[16]?”
I wasn't.
We took him home that night. We made him go by telling him that his father bought a silver-mounted gun and a pair of moccasins for him, and we were going to hunt bears the next day.
