There was no house in sight, no road, nothing but the dead train, the new land of endless shimmering prairies, and, beyond the ditch, a single horseman looking curiously at the long cars and the faces strained against the glass of the windows.
'Say, you!' Cargan called, 'can you get an auto anywhere here?'
The figure looked at him impassively, then shook its dusty head.
'Or a team?'
It shook its head again.
'Or a—horse?' Cargan hesitated. He had never ridden a horse.
A sudden gleaming idea shot across the man's solemn features. He slid off his pony and led him nearer the ditch.
'Say'—he suddenly became voluble,—'you said you wanted to get to Hamden. Well, if you'll make it five plunks, and give me your ticket, you can take this horse, an' I'll go round by train. Say—do you want to?'
Cargan was tempted. All you had to do was to stick on.
'What'll I do with my suit-case?'