Page:Edward Ellis--Alden the Pony Express Rider.djvu/322

 “I shall be on road in ten minutes,” replied one of the three, a man of slight figure, bright eyes and alert manner.

“Won’t you let me take it?”

They looked at one another in astonishment. Then the eldest, who had done most of the talking for his friends, said with a smile:

“You haven’t any pony.”

“But you have.”

“You have never been over the route and don’t know the way.”

“The pony does; I brought the mail here and and this is the first time I was ever so far west.”

“But you are worn out.”

“How far is it to the next station?”

“A little short of twelve miles, but a part of the way is pretty tough and you’re liable to run into redskins before you’re out of sight of the station.”

The men admired the pluck of the youth, but they would have been foolish to yield to him. The mail was certainly safer in charge of one of their number than with a youth who was strange to the country. They shook their heads, and, since there was no help for it, Alden lay down on the couch which felt as