Captain Slocum was Don Grier's protector. He sent for John the Swede. "Don's going on a long trip," the captain said, "and you're going with him. The boy is soft. He knows little about horses and guns, and will have to know a great deal to face the ordeal at the end of the journey. You will be his schoolmaster. You will teach him how to go hungry and thirsty, how to ride day and night. Above all, you will teach him how to shoot and find his target. Do you hear me?"

"I hear you," said John sullenly. "But what power'll I have to make the brat do exactly what I tell him to do?"

"You have power," said the captain, "to beat him until the bruises reach the bone. You have power to leave him in the middle of the desert if he won't understand and obey you." The captain went on, "He enters the ride, a boy. On the other end, I expect you to have made him a man."