“You know,” said the conductor, “that you might spend a year in the Painted Desert and then come out realizing that you have only begun the sightseeing of this wonderful Navajo country. I have been through there several times, and each time I learn how much more there is to see.”
Consequently the scouts decided to follow the conductor’s advice and allow themselves more time in the Desert than they had at first planned for.
Having said good-by to the conductor, and left the train at Gallup, their next move must be to ascertain when the freight would come in with Tally and the horses. Until they arrived it would be impossible to ride to Navajo Land.
“If only you could be sure that Tally’s freight would be delayed, you might have a chance to get down into Zuñi Land with me,” said Mr. Burt.
But in this hope Mr. Burt was to be disappointed, for the freight agent informed Mr. Gilroy that there were no night-over stops for the train between Laguna and Gallup, as there was not much transportation service to the small towns on the line, hence Tally and his horses could be looked for soon after midnight.
There being no excuse for Mr. Burt to delay his journey to the Zuñi Reservation, he now said a reluctant farewell and rode away with a native Zuñi guide.
At luncheon, in the El Navajo hotel that day, the Captain said: “Gilly, I’ve been talking to the manager of the hotel and he says it is a good 150 miles to the Painted Desert. That will use up a week of our time in just going there, because the little burros are so slow.”
“If there is any kind of a patented accelerator to attach to their hoofs, Verny, I’ll get them at once: just tell me where they are for sale,” replied Mr. Gilroy.
The girls laughed, but Mrs. Vernon persisted: “Gilly, I am not joking at all. I really mean what I say, you ought to find some means of conveying us to the Desert in a day or two. Now do put on your thinking cap!”
“My thinking cap, Verny, has always led others to think I was a clown that had strayed from a circus. Hence I never use it, in order to spare my pride.”