Page:Edward Ellis--Alden the Pony Express Rider.djvu/271

 “Shagbark, eh? So he’s your guide; well, there isn’t a better one in the West than he; that’s what Kit Carson has said many a time and he knows. See here, my young friend, what’s the use of your staying in that saddle? Your pony doesn’t go any farther.”

“But I should like to do so.”

“Tom Harper is here to take the place of any chap that gets knocked out.”

“Why not let me complete the run?”

The three men looked in one another’s faces and smiled significantly.

“Do you really want to try it?”

“Nothing can suit me better.”

“You have never been over the route.”

“I have never been over the run just finished; I left everything to the pony and he did not go astray.”

Alden did not think it worth while to tell of his adventure in the gorge while coming through the ridge.

“You’re correct as to the ponies; all of them have been over the road long enough to become familiar with it. What do you say, Tom?” asked Jenkins, turning to the relief rider.

“Well, I ain’t partic’lar,” replied the wiry