He _was_ big—that was a fact. He stood considerably over six feet in his moccasins, and must have weighed at least 250 pounds, although there was not an ounce of superfluous flesh on him.
He moved as if he were set on springs, and his tightly fitting jacket of buckskin showed muscles on his arms and chest the like of which Oscar had never seen before.
He wore no weapon, and in fact the boy did not think he needed any, for he looked strong enough to battle empty-handed with anybody or anything.
Like most big men he was good-natured,—his face testified to that fact,—and it needed but one glance at it to satisfy Oscar that the owner of it was a man who could be trusted under any circumstances.
“Thompson,” continued the colonel, as the scout seated himself in the chair that was pointed out to him, and deposited his hat and coat on the floor, “this young gentleman is Mr. Oscar Preston, who has come out here from the States to spend the winter in hunting. He needs a guide who knows all about the country and the game that is to be found in it, and I have recommended you. Now see if you can strike a bargain with him.”
The scout listened attentively, and when the colonel ceased speaking he turned and gave Oscar a good looking over.
The boy thought he could not have been very much impressed with his appearance, for, after running his eyes over him from head to foot, he nodded his head slightly, said “How!” in rather a gruff tone—that was his way of saying “How do you do?”—and then settled back in his chair and turned his face toward the colonel again.
The latter went on to explain the nature of Oscar’s business, and, as the scout knew no more about taxidermy or a museum than he did of chemistry or geology, the officer was obliged to make use of a good many words, and those of the simplest kind too, in order to make him understand what it was that brought the boy to the plains.
There were two things, however, that Big Thompson _did_ comprehend, viz., that Oscar intended to spend the winter in some good game country, and that he was able and willing to pay liberally for the services of an experienced plainsman to act in the capacity of guide and cook.
The hunting Oscar intended to do himself. He hastened to explain this fact to the scout, adding that, when he presented his specimens for the inspection of the committee at Yarmouth, he wanted to be able to say that they had all fallen to his own rifle.