“I am sure I have no idea. The ponies have trotted steadily all day. These mustangs are good travelers, if they are small.�
“They have endurance. I have been out on a hunt with the Indians when we have kept in the saddle for a hundred miles at a time, the ponies loping or running most of the way.�
“But how could you stand it to ride so far?�
“O, I can sleep in the saddle if necessary. One never knows what he can do until he is put to the test. But I think we have come about forty-five miles to-day. Yonder is the town. They are just lighting it. How pleasant it looks, doesn’t it, this evidence of life after so many miles of uninhabited wilds.�
“The ride has been perfectly delightful,� said Lissa. “I never better enjoyed a day in my life.�
They drew rein at a freshly painted building, bearing a sign “Badger House.� The landlady was evidently a Yankee, for she began a series of questions to Lissa. Where did they hail from? Where were they going? Had she ever been West before?
To Lissa’s responses she vouchsafed a consolatory remark: “Well, I’m kind of sorry for you. There is nothin’ but work out here. Ye don’t look as if ye’d seen much hardships. Ye’ll git awful homesick, I reckon. What with the poor crops and the hot winds, and the grasshoppers, there ain’t much to look for’d to.� After which she left the room to see to their supper.
The next morning they started early, that they might get well on their way before the intense heat of mid-day. They had been traveling for some time, when Lissa suddenly started and grasped Nathan’s arm.
“Stop, stop!� she cried; “I’ve been here before. I know just what is before us! Ah, how can it be—and yet, yet, I’ve seen it all before. Just beyond that large tree the ground descends to a river. There is a marshy strip of ground at the left, and a log lying diagonally, thus.� Lissa indicated the position by crossing her hands. She was excited and eager. “What does it all mean? Am I, too, clairvoyant?�
“We will see,� he said, chirruping to his horses. They soon came to the height overlooking the river flats. Before them lay the scene Lissa had described. The tears started in her eyes.