Page:Edward Ellis--Alden the Pony Express Rider.djvu/195

 distances, while others had been carried still farther down the ravine.

The trail followed the right of the gorge and was broad enough to allow any emigrant train to move freely without stringing out to a dangerous degree. The slope was steadily upward for a fourth of a mile, when it reached a nearly level plateau, and wound in and out among rocks, stunted pines, gnarled cedars, and ravines, interspersed with valleys and comparatively smooth stretches, with now and then a mountain torrent across which the travelers made their way with difficulty.

Alden and Jethro still rode with their ponies side by side, for the space was abundant. The incline compelled them to walk their animals, although such would have been their pace had the ground been level. There was no call to hasten their horses, while it would have involved considerable risk.

As they rode each glanced from side to side. The same thought was in the minds of both. If they were under the eyes of any prowling Indians, the two were at their mercy, for hiding places from which their enemies could fire without the slightest risk to themselves were beyond counting.