Page:Edward Ellis--Alden the Pony Express Rider.djvu/242

 gone and the youth must think for himself. Six or eight miles remained to be traversed through a dangerous country and he was on foot. The pony had fled and he doubted whether he could be recovered.

“He has the mail with him and may take it into his head to go to the station without me,” was the thought of Alden, as he turned back over the trail. The hoof prints left by the animal showed clearly in the ground and it was easy to follow them.

A little way and he came to where the open space broadened. His vision widened and the first survey showed him Dick quietly cropping the grass, as if nothing unusual had happened to him. His side was toward Alden, who whistled.

The pony lifted his head, with the blades of grass dripping from his jaws, and looked questioningly at the youth, who whistled again and walked in his direction.

It would be interesting could we know what whims passed through the brain of the animal which was one of the most intelligent of his species. The Express Riders used so many horses and were forced by circumstances to shift so often from one to the other, that not