“You don’t think we shall be running any risks, do you?” ventured Mrs. Vernon.
“None whatever. If we were down at the base of this peak, right now, you would see how simple a thing it is to ride across the sand. The only danger in these Colorado wastes is when a storm threatens. But the sky is as clear as can be, and the day is too far spent now, for the sun to start anything going.”
“The only hazard we take in crossing the sand waste, is that darkness may overtake us before we reach the other side, and that might cause us to stray from the trail,” suggested Mr. Vernon.
“With two good guides to lead us, we take no risk on that score,” returned Mr. Gilroy.
“At least it will prove to be a novel trip—climbing mountains and riding over a desert of sand all in the same day,” said Julie, eagerly willing to try the experience.
Luncheon was hastily disposed of, and Tally led them all down the steep trail of the mountainside for several hours. Then they reached the lodgepole pine, which is the only timber that can hold out against desert storms in bad weather and in winter.
“Before we begin this desert ride, do let’s look for some water,” begged Ruth. “I’m thirsty as a sandpiper.”
“Quite appropriate, too, as long as we are going to be closely affiliated with the sand,” giggled Joan.
Tally and the two men had gone on before, and had not heard Ruth’s request, or they might have spared the scouts a great deal of unpleasantness. They had hoped to strike the trail they had seen across the desert, so they rode in different directions to locate it, and the captain and girls were left to amble slowly along until one or all of the men returned for them.
So it happened that Ruth and Joan wandered about in search of drinking-water, and shortly after they left the rest of the scouts, Mrs. Vernon heard Ruth call.