“That was a good story, Mason,” remarked Walt a moment later. “It shows you had a wonderful mother, doesn’t it?”
“It does indeed,” agreed Mason. “It shows father had a wonderful dog, too. Without him my mother would never have had the chance to do what she did.”
“Quite right,” exclaimed Walt heartily and murmurs of approval were heard on all sides.
“Yes, sir,” continued Mason. “My father loved old Robin almost as much as he did me. I love dogs myself and I wouldn’t be without one for anything. Some men are bad and some are good, but I tell you all dogs are good. You can believe everything they tell you.”
“Gracious, I’ve talked a lot tonight,” he added laughingly. “I’m going to stop now though and turn in. Tomorrow may be a hard day. Good night, Red, and everybody else,” he called as he disappeared into the darkness.
At the first sign of dawn the forces were once more on the march. The men had a quieter and sterner air than they had manifested the preceding day. The prevailing opinion was that before the sun set that night they would come in contact with their foes, and in spite of the open assertions of the men that it was all a “picnic,” this fact made them more serious.
The country consisted of open, rolling prairies, frequent groves of trees and occasional swamps. The men rode along in a careless manner, chatting with one another and boasting of what they would do to the hostile Sacs when they met them. Progress was slow on account of the disorderly march of the volunteers and it was late afternoon before they reached the vicinity of Sycamore Creek where they intended to camp. This place was hardly more than thirty miles distant from Dixon’s Ferry.
“We’re going to pitch camp there,” said Walt to Joseph and Robert, at the same time indicating a small clump of open timber some distance ahead of them.
“That looks like a good place,” remarked Joseph approvingly.
“It is,” agreed Walt. “You see it is entirely surrounded by open prairie and anyone who tries to attack us there will be completely exposed while we will have the protection of the trees.”
“Do you think Black Hawk would dare attack us?” demanded Robert.
“I don’t know,” said Walt in reply. “It all depends on how many men he has. I doubt if he’d try such a thing though.”