The story of a fifteen-year-old who goes to Nebraska to work on the Transcontinental Railroad with his father.

		August 17 Last night I found out why the Indians are still so dangerous...Pa and his buddy Bill Flanagan were playing cribbage like they usually do before they go to bed, when a bullet whizzed through the side of our tent. I didn't even realize what had happened until a shaving mug exploded on a shelf just above my head. Then a fraction of a second later we heard the report of a rifle, followed by a far-off war whoop... Pa and Bill crawled into bed without even bothering to pick up the broken pieces of that mug. They stated snoring right away, but I lay awake for a long time after...I couldn't help but wonder how awful it would be to take a stray bullet in the brain and never know why.