“You’ll ride beside me, won’t you, papa?” she asked, her tone expressing some slight timidity.
“Yes, dear child: so near that I can seize your pony’s bridle at any moment,” he replied. “But I think you need have no fear that he will misbehave with you on his back.”
His horse was close at hand, and with the concluding words of his sentence he vaulted into the saddle.
Away they went through the town, down the valley, passing near the mine they had visited in the morning, over the hills and far out on the grassy plains beyond.
Lulu found her pony manageable, so that soon she could partly forget him and give her attention to the country they were passing through, and the talk of her companions.
She and Max thought they would never forget that ride; it was so full of pleasure to them; the air was delightfully fresh and pure, the motion of their steeds rapid and easy, and everything they saw was interesting, if only because of its dissimilarity to whatever they had heretofore been accustomed to.
The principal topics of discourse between the two gentlemen were the natural resources of the territory and their development, the incoming tide of immigration, its character and probable influence upon the future of that region of country.
“You have some Mormon citizens?” the captain said, half in assertion, half inquiringly.
“Yes, sir; quite a good many, though they are decidedly in the minority. By the way, you Eastern folks have little idea, I take it, of the aggressive character of Mormonism, its enmity to the Federal Government, and far-reaching schemes to gain the balance of power in, not Utah alone, but as many more Territories and States as possible. Believe me, the Union has no bitterer foes, and none who need to be more vigilantly watched and guarded against.”
“I believe you,” the captain returned, with a look of grave concern; “and I think too that the Eastern people are at least beginning to awake to the danger. One object I had in view in coming out here was to see for myself the extent of the evil and the best remedy to be applied; also to decide the important question of my own duty in the matter.”