Page:Edward Ellis--Alden the Pony Express Rider.djvu/27

Rh was so impressed on his mind that he awoke to the minute he had set for awaking. Probably the first faint streakings of morning were showing in the east, when he flung his blanket aside, remounted and dashed off again.

It will be understood that when the Pony Express was organized, it was necessary to establish relief stations at intervals of a dozen miles or so. Now and then these were separated by greater distances, when it was impossible to have it otherwise. Between the stations, the rider kept his horse at the highest possible speed. The average time scheduled was ten or twelve miles an hour, but where the route was favorable, the ponies held a speed of twenty and sometimes of twenty-five miles. Thus, as has been stated, the rider from the east and he from the west thundered toward each other at the incredible rate of fifty miles an hour—equal to the speed of an express railway train.

There were portions of the trail where no rider dared show himself and pony during the daytime, because of the Indians on the alert for his scalp. The intrepid fellow and animal remained in hiding till night. When darkness came the man stealthily re-saddled his horse,