At five o'clock Mr. Stott raced forward and returned to announce that Hicks had camped just around the bend of the river.
"You're wearing that horse out, Stott," said Wallie, coldly.
"He's feeling good--watch him!" cried the lawyer, gaily, putting spurs to the horse and disappearing.
It was a beautiful camping spot that Hicks had selected, though "Red" McGonnigle grumbled that it was not level enough for the teepees.
Old Mr. Penrose, who had fallen off his horse rather than dismounted, declared he was so tired that he could sleep on the teeth of a harrow, like a babe in its cradle.
"We'll be all right when we get seasoned," said Mr. Appel, cheerfully, hunting in his wife's handbag for the vaseline.
"You couldn't have a better place to start in at," "Red" commented, grimly.
On the whole, the day might be regarded as a pleasant one, and if the remainder of the trip equalled it, there was no doubt but that the party would return satisfied, which meant that they would advertise it and the next season would be even more successful.
Everyone carried wood to build a camp-fire after supper, but by the time they had it going they were too sleepy to sit up and enjoy it. They stumbled away to their several teepees with their eyes half closed and for the first time since they had known each other failed to say "pleasant dreams!" when separating for the night.
Mr. Stott lingered to regale Pinkey and Wallie for the fourteenth time with the story of the hoot-owl which had frightened him while hunting in Florida, but since it was received without much enthusiasm and he was not encouraged to tell another, he, too, retired to crawl between his blankets and "sleep on Nature's bosom" with most of his clothes on.
"I wouldn't wonder but that we'll have to hit him between the horns before the trip is over," Pinkey remarked, looking after Stott.
Wallie said nothing, but his face spoke for him.
Pinkey continued in a tone of satisfaction: "Outside of him, everything's goin' splendid. The Yellowstone Park is the fightin'est place anybody ever heard of. I've seen life-time friends go in there campin' and come out enemies--each one sittin' on his own grub-box and not speakin'. But it don't look as if we was goin' to have any serious trouble--they're nice people."
"And they think the world of me," Wallie reiterated.
"I've been thinkin' I could lose the horses for two or three days and that would count up considerable. Ten dudes at $5.00 a day for three days, say---- Oh, we're sittin' pretty! We'll come out of this with a roll as big as a gambler's."