“But is it not possible to take some other line, on account of the Indians?” said Wilton.
“No,” said the doctor and Griggs, almost together.
“If we strike off over the open land it means desert, and we shall be full in sight of Indians if they came near,” said Griggs.
“And if we strike in through the long grass we shall go more and more into the bed of the unseen river, with the marshes to stop us before we can get far.”
“I see,” said Wilton. “Off for the mountains, then. Yes, that’s the only way.”
Half-an-hour later the little train was steadily advancing, the mules making light of their loads, and proving by their playfulness—which took the form of a disposition to bite or kick every one of their fellows within reach—that they were thoroughly rested, refreshed, and ready for as much work as would be demanded of their sturdy legs.
A sharp lookout was kept to their left over the open country as the leading mule was steered, as he called it, by Griggs, close in to the high grass, which acted as a screen against which they would have been hardly seen; but nothing alarming appeared in the distance, and no footprints of man and horse other than their own in the soft soil showed that any enemy had crossed their trail to make for the hunting-grounds to their right.
But night came on ere the slow pace of the laden mules had covered the distance the explorers had got over by the previous afternoon, and there the little caravan was guided right into a sheltered valley to the borders of an elongated pool, where, well hidden from the plain, preparations were made for their next camp.