Page:Edward Ellis--Alden the Pony Express Rider.djvu/305

 westward. This as was the rule was spread over a space of a mile or more in width, and still greater in other places.

All Alden had to remember was not to lose sight of these landmarks and he would reach the station sooner or later. Moreover the evidence on the bank of the stream left no doubt that it was a well-known ford, where teams could cross with little difficulty. Wherefore Alden could probably do the same.

He decided to try it. Ever mindful of the inestimable value of the mail treasure, he adjusted them with much care about his neck, somewhat as if they were life preservers, and holding his light rifle in his hand, he stepped cautiously into the current like an elephant venturing upon a rickety bridge.

Ugh! as the water crept up around his knees he shuddered. He was sure that half a degree colder would congeal it. Like some of the great rivers of Europe, it must issue from under a mass of ice. But he could stand it, and cheered himself with the thought that many others must have made the same passage, for not every man could ride in the heavy wagons of an emigrant train when fording a stream.