Page:Edward Ellis--Alden the Pony Express Rider.djvu/250

 for a moment as if Dick had suddenly reached the end of his rope. He came opposite a mass of rocks, amid which the twisted pines pushed out in all directions, though ever striving to reach the vertical with their tops pointed toward the zenith. To the right and left, the flinty boundary extended beyond sight.

Without hesitation Dick turned to the left and walked briskly for a dozen rods. The barrier still interposed. He stopped, wheeled about and retraced his steps. He was searching for an opening or small pass, and was not satisfied to approach any closer to the Indian signal.

Within less than the distance named, to the right of his first turn, he found that for which he was looking. A gap showed and he entered it as if it were a stable door that had been opened for him.

“What’s the use of placing a rider on your back, Dick?” asked the delighted Alden. “Better to give you the mail pouch and tell you to deliver it at the next station. But then mighty few ponies know as much as you.”

How far this path led remained to be seen. But it had not been followed far when Alden met an experience that was as unique as