"Father thinks he is a stickler for the law," said Mary, with a chuckle.
Indians came and went in great numbers around and into the company's first night's camp on the plains, sometimes growing insolent in their persistent demands for food and articles of clothing, but on the whole peaceable and friendly. Every man, woman, and child was under orders to give them no cause for offence, the Captain hoping, by example, to disarm hostility. But he soon learned that this liberal policy brought hordes of beggars; and the necessity of carefully guarding their freight was made apparent the next morning, when they found their breakfast supplies had been stolen, and with them the cooking utensils. The Captain found it necessary to send a messenger back to St. Joseph to purchase fresh supplies before they could go on.
The next day's drive over the beautiful prairie was without unusual incident. The roads were good, the soil rich, and the undulating landscape perfect.
"Lengthy and Sawed-off are bringing in a buffalo,^cried Hal.
"We had one yesterday," said Mrs. Ranger. "The game ought not to be slaughtered in this wasteful manner. You ought to stop it, John."
"Men are still in a state of savagery," replied her husband.
"The instinct to kill is as strong in us as it was in the days of Agamemnon," said Scotty.
Or the Caesars," exclaimed the little widow. We'll need this meat for food before we get to Oregon," said Mrs. Ranger, surveying the huge carcass of the fallen monarch thoughtfully. "We must cut the flesh into strips and dry it, Indian fashion, in the sun."
"But we can't stop to dry it, Annie," exclaimed her husband.
"We needn't stop, John. We can get the men to cut
