They had fed him and looked after his injuries. The Indian professed to be very grateful for such help, and for several days had clung to the expedition, though able by then to walk fairly well.
He had assured them, through signs mostly, that he could serve them as guide across the hot waste of sand, as he had himself crossed it on many occasions. Captain Lewis considered this a fair return for what he had done. Dick, however, did not altogether like the Indian’s looks. He thought he had a crafty way of watching everything, and that his admiration for some of the horses might lead him to attempting a theft, unless he were diligently watched.
Still, since the captain seemed to trust him, Dick did not think it was his duty to say anything. It might look as though he were inclined to be bold. At the same time, he made up his mind that, whenever it was possible, he would keep an eye on the red man.
That night they filled with water the skin bags they had by degrees provided for the purpose. A spring that gurgled close by the camp gave them an unlimited supply of the necessary fluid; and they were warned by the guide that it would be the last waterhole they would expect to come across for many days.
In the morning the start was made, not without misgivings. No one could say what terrible things lay before them, and the men cast wistful glances back toward that cooling spring, as though they disliked to say good-by to it.
That day was one which served to give them a new experience, for, up to then, few of the explorers had ever known what it was to travel over a sandy waste where the sun beat down with blistering effect, and the air seemed fairly to quiver with the heat.
No living thing had they seen all day long, save perhaps a skulking small animal, which the men at first thought to be a dog, though it must have been a coyote; a few sage hens; and some gophers, that burrowed in holes in the ground, from the entrances of which they timidly watched the horses file slowly past.
In every direction lay cacti of various species and heights, while thorny plants belonging to the same family, and bearing a small pear-like fruit which the Indian told them was edible, lay upon the ground.
They were glad when night came with its refreshing air. The camp was made in the open desert, for there was not a tree of any size in sight. And it seemed to the boys that, when the sun went down that evening, it was several times as large as usual, as well as fiery red. It beckoned them on just as before, since they knew well that somewhere, beyond the desert, the sun must be setting behind the vast ocean which they all aspired to see.