With a glance at his companion, he crossed to her side of the car, and took the seat in front of her.
"We are in the Bear Lake valley, just over the border of Idaho, about fifteen miles from the Squaw Creek divide," he answered, sinking his voice.
"Did you hear what that person said in the night, when a train passed us, about our not getting through?"
"I wondered if you heard that." He smiled. "You did not rest well, I'm afraid."
"I was anxious about father. This weather is a great surprise to us. We were told the winters were short in southern Idaho—almost like Virginia; but look at this!"
"We have nearly eight thousand feet of altitude here, you must remember. In the valleys it is warmer. There the winter does break usually about this time. Are you going on much farther?"
"To a place called Volney."
"Volney is pretty high; but there is Boise, farther down. Strangers moving into a new country very seldom strike it right the first time."
"Oh, we shall stay at Volney, even if we do not like it; that is, if we can stay. I have a married sister living there. She thought the climate would be better for father."
After a pause she asked, "Do you know why we are stopping here so long?"