And then both he and his wife laughed.
“All right，” he said. “Good luck just the same. But watchout the bears and mountain lions don’t get you when itgets dark.”
Then they rode away laughing， pleasant like； but Iwished he hadn’t said that about the bears and mountainlions.
After we got around the hill， I found a trail， and wewent much faster. Charley didn’t have any more signs offits， and began laughing and talking about gold mines. Thetrouble was with little Albert. He was almost as big as me.
You see， all the time I’d been calling him little Albert， he’dbeen growing up. He was so heavy I couldn’t keep up withJoe and Charley. I was all out of breath. So I told themthey’d have to take turns in carrying him， which they saidthey wouldn’t. Then I said I’d leave them and they’d getlost， and the mountain lions and bears would eat them.
Charley looked like he was going to have a fit right there，and Joe said， “Give him to me.” And after that we carriedhim in turn.
We kept right on up that mountain. I don’t think therewas any gold mine， but we might ’a’ got to the top andfound it， if we hadn’t lost the trail， and if it hadn’t gotdark， and if little Albert hadn’t tired us all out carryinghim. Lots of feebs are scared of the dark， and Joe said hewas going to have a fit right there. Only he didn’t. I neversaw such an unlucky boy. He never could throw a fit whenhe wanted to. Some of the feebs can throw fits as quick asa wink.
By and by it got real black， and we were hungry， andwe didn’t have no fire. You see， they don’t let feebs carrymatches， and all we could do was just shiver. And we’dnever thought about being hungry. You see， feebs alwayshave their food ready for them， and that’s why it’s betterto be a feeb than earning your living in the world.
And worse than everything was the quiet. There wasonly one thing worse， and it was the noises. There was allkinds of noises every once in a while， with quiet spells inbetween. I reckon they were rabbits， but they made noisesin the brush like wild animals—you know， rustle rustle，thump， bump， crackle crackle， just like that. First Charleygot a fit， a real one， and Joe threw a terrible one. I don’tmind fits in the Home with everybody around. But out inthe woods on a dark night is different. You listen to me，and never go hunting gold mines with epilecs， even if theyare high-grade.
I never had such an awful night. When Joe and Charleyweren’t throwing fits they were making believe， and in thedarkness the shivers from the cold which I couldn’t seeseemed like fits， too. And I shivered so hard I thought Iwas getting fits myself. And little Albert， with nothing toeat， just drooled and drooled. I never seen him as bad asthat before. Why， he twisted that left eye of his until itought to have dropped out. I couldn’t see it， but I couldtell from the movements he made. And Joe just lay andcussed and cussed， and Charley cried and wished he wasback in the Home.
We didn’t die， and next morning we went right back theway we’d come. And little Albert got awful heavy. DoctorWilson was mad as could be， and said I was the worst feebin the institution， along with Joe and Charley. But MissStriker， who was a nurse in the drooling ward then， justput her arms around me and cried， she was that happyI’d got back. I thought right there that mebbe I’d marryher. But only a month afterward she got married to theplumber that came up from the city to fix the gutter-pipesof the new hospital. And little Albert never twisted his eyefor two days， it was that tired.
Next time I run away I’m going right over that mountain.
But I ain’t going to take epilecs along. They ain’t nevercured， and when they get scared or excited they throwfits to beat the band. But I’ll take little Albert. SomehowI can’t get along without him. And anyway， I ain’t goingto run away. The drooling ward’s a better snap than goldmines， and I hear there’s a new nurse coming. Besides，little Albert’s bigger than I am now， and I could nevercarry him over a mountain. And he’s growing bigger everyday. It’s astonishing.