"I am a blacksmith by trade, and know all the shoes made by the smiths in the regiment. This is one of Sattler's. He put a side-weight on it, and here is the bevel-mark of his hammer."
"Then Chiquita certainly came this way, and Vic was on her trail when we saw her, coming from the tanks," remarked Frank; "but there could have been no scent after so long a time."
"Oh, she knows the ponies' tracks," asseverated Henry. "She knows their halters and bridles, and will bring them when told to, without mistake. Of course she knew Chiquita's shoe, and she knows Chiquita is my pony, and I believe she knows we are going after her."
I repeat this, not because I think the dog so exceedingly wise, but to show the boys' belief in her intelligence. She had brought in a shoe which bore the government mark, and which had been fitted by the Fort Whipple blacksmith.
The sentinel waked us the next morning at four o'clock, and informed us that the Indians had left two hours before. The animals were driven to the tanks, the vessels and canteens filled, and at six we started. Clary warmed up the rabbit stew left over from supper, but the rat association was still too strong, and the boys passed it over to the dog. All the water was used in the preparation of breakfast except that in the canteens. It would have been better if we had again gone to the tanks and refilled the camp-kettles and coffee-pots; but the delay necessary to do it, and the assurance that there was water at Hole-in-the-Plain determined me to go on at once. The weather was a repetition of that of the previous day, hot and windless.
The road proved generally smooth, but there were occasional long stretches over which it was impossible to drive faster than a walk. About four o'clock in the afternoon we reached the Hole-in-the-Plain, and found nothing but a mass of thin mud. The water had dried up. Vic, consumed with thirst, waded into the mud, and rolled in it until she was the color of fresh adobe, and was, in consequence, made to ride on the driver's foot-board in disgrace.
We had intended to pass the night at the Hole; but now we were obliged to go on, when really in no condition to do so. The men and animals were suffering much more than I have time or space to mention. The previous day's experience and the poor water at the tanks had made our second day on the desert more exhausting than the first. To be obliged to add another day's journey to the one just finished was exceedingly depressing.
Very gloomy, and doubtful of the outcome, we left the Hole-in-the-Plain. The plain became undulating, and was frequently crossed by deep and dry ravines, and loose stones obstructed the wheels. We were toiling slowly up a slope when a horseman overtook us who proved to be Mr. Gray. He slowed up, and asked how we were getting on. All the incidents of the journey since parting with him the day before were related, and our present plight explained.
He spoke encouragingly. Told us that Tyson's Wells were now not far away, and that the road would soon improve.
"Keep up your courage, lads, and you will soon be there," he shouted back as he galloped swiftly away in the darkness.