"Just what it is," Dick answered, quickly. "Which reminds me that I've been told that the snakes seem to occupy the burrows along with the dogs. Perhaps they've got some sort of arrangement between them; or else the prairie dog isn't afraid of the poison of the rattlesnake. See, there's another, yes, and even a third one, much larger than any of the rest!"
"Ugh! wouldn't I hate to have to walk through this village in the dark!" Roger exclaimed, with a shudder, as they passed several more snakes lying in the warm sunshine, not at all bothered by the thud of horses' hoofs.
"It's a bad job going through it, even on horseback, and in the daytime," Dick observed, "because you have to watch closely to keep from having the animal break through the roof of a burrow; and, first thing you know, one of those nasty rattlesnakes might be striking at the horse's legs. It would be a shame to lose so valuable an animal in that way, when we need them both so badly."
That caused Roger to awaken to the fact that he was not paying as much attention to his progress through the populous town as he should; and, having had his fears aroused, he now began to keep a close watch for signs of trouble ahead.
Being thus fully on their guard they were able to reach the border of the prairie dog settlement without having met with any disaster; and, the last they saw of it, several of the boldest of the natives had crept out of their burrows, and seemed to be "barking them a farewell," as Roger laughingly said.
While they were jealous concerning their ammunition, hoarding it against a possible emergency, they seldom lost an opportunity to wet a line in the great river, whenever their camp was close by the bank.
Roger always carried hooks and lines along with him, so that on the present occasion he was well equipped to capture all the finny prizes they needed for food.
Many a night, while Dick slept, the other would sit on the river bank, with his line in his hand, waiting for a bite, and seldom did his vigilance go unrewarded, so that they had fish for breakfast on numerous occasions.
It happened that once again they discovered a place where undoubtedly the expedition they were following must have waited over night. There were the plain tracks of horses' hoofs, and also the ashes of several fires, for, being in such numbers, the explorers of the Missouri did not feel compelled to hide whenever they made camp, in order to keep their location a secret from spying eyes.