The distant rider evidently had not seen the Steam Horse, for he had been riding with his head bowed down.
When he did lift his gaze and saw the strange invention coming toward him, the effect was surprising.
He pulled his pony up short and sat for a moment in the saddle like a veritable statue.
Then he seemed imbued with an impulse to flee.
But Frank saw this in time and brought the Horse to a stop.
The young inventor alighted from the wagon and waved his arms in a reassuring manner.
The traveler, who was a man of singular garb and appearance, remained and answered the signal.
Frank boldly advanced on foot toward this singular nomad of the plains, for such the rider appeared to be.
He was a tall, powerful-framed, coarse-featured man of forty-five years of age.
His hair hung in long, matted folds down upon his back from beneath a clumsy bearskin cap.