of tables and a couch, but the walls were ornamented with the heads
of deer and elk, as well as the skins of smaller animals, and the
floor was covered with bear and panther skins. Over the big fireplace
hung a shotgun with a couple of rifles, and several Indian bows
stood in one corner.




CHAPTER VIII

TALKING IT OVER


"I thought you didn't use a stove," remarked Jack, opening his eyes
in astonishment at the sight of the colonel's well-appointed kitchen.

"Why not?" asked the colonel, smiling at Jack's surprise. "I don't
sleep on the ground from choice, when I have a comfortable bed."

"But, you said--" continued Jack.

"This is a permanent headquarters," the colonel went on. "When I
go on a march I don't carry all these things with me. What we don't
have we get along without, as part of the day's task."

"That's a grand pair of horns on that elk's head," admired Rand,
who was looking at the trophies of the chase that hung on the walls.
"Isn't there a story that goes with that?"