"Wow! A terrible dream I just had, Chester," he said.

Chester smiled in spite of himself.

"It came almost being your last dream," he replied quietly.

Without waiting for a reply, he laid Hal gently down again and hurried to
Uncle John. The latter raised himself on one elbow even as Chester bent
down beside him.

"Careless of me to get in the way of a bullet like that," he said with a
faint smile. "I'll know better next time."

"Where are you hit, sir?" asked Chester anxiously.

"Caught me in the left side, some place," replied Uncle John, and with
Chester's aid, got to his feet.

Chester made a quick examination.

"Lucky, sir. Just a flesh wound," he said. "I'll have it fixed up
in a jiffy."

Making a bandage of his handkerchief, he soon had the wound tied up as
well as could be done under the circumstances. Then the lad lent Hal a
hand as the latter staggered to his feet.

"How do you feel?" asked Chester.

"Well, I don't feel very chipper, and that's a fact," replied Hal with a