“And we, then, have been over a prairie-dog settlement?� questioned Lissa.
“Yes, there is a large one here extending a mile on either side of the road. If you had come through here in daylight you would have seen them coming out of their little houses, and heard them bark.�
“I think I did hear one. Have they a little piping voice?�
“Yes, very likely you did hear them. You will often pass here and have plenty of chance to study them,� said Nathan.
“Do they do any harm?�
“No, except to undermine the ground and make it treacherous to travelers.�
The remainder of their journey was uneventful, and before midnight the two sisters were united, and talking so animatedly that the night bid fair to be sleepless.
“Come, Alice,� Mark said at last, “Lissa must be very tired and you are to have weeks and months together now to tell everything to one another. You don’t want to make her ill at the beginning.�
“No, I do not. But it does seem glorious to have some one to talk to.�
“As if we were not of any use in that line?�