Page:The Prairie Flower; Or, Adventures In the Far West.djvu/108

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Devoid of all vegetation, with the exception of a few tall, stiff, wire-like weeds, that grew here and there, where the soil ap peared a little moist and loomy. Deep : ravines, or cracks in the earth, in some! places to the depth of it might be a thou sand feet, cut across the ground in every direction, and rendered everything like! speed, or traveling after night, out of the question. These gullies, when very nar row, we forced our horses to leap but frequently had to ride around them on account of which our progress westward was slow and tedious. The sun here seemed at least twenty degrees warmer than on the highlands we had left behind us; and not having come to any water, we began about mid-day to feel the op pression of a burning thirst, while our well fed and well watered animals of the morning, showed alarming signs of expe riencing the same sensation, by lolling their tongues, occasionally smelling the earth, and snuffing the dry air. Oh! what would we not have given, even then, for a bucket of water, cool from some deep well!

We found no place to noon, and conse quently were forced to push forward, in the-' nope of reaching an oasis for our night's encampment.

On, on we went, our thirst increasing to a "Teat decree, while the sun rolled

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slowly down toward the west, and yet no thing around and before us but this same dull, arid waste. We now began to ex perience the effects of our rashness, and, if truth must be told, to secretly wish our selves safely clear of our undertaking, though neither breathed a word to the other of the thoughts passing in his mind. Our horses, too, seemed very much fa tigued, and required considerable spurring to hasten them forward.

The sun had now sunk within an hour of the horizon, and yet the same cheerless prospect lay before us. We looked back, and far in the distance, like a mole-hill, could faintly trace the outline of the oasis of our last encampment; while beyond, the snowy peaks of the Wahsatch glisten ed in the sunbeams. Advancing a couple of miles, we found ourselves compelled to camp for the night, without water, and with nothing for our horses to eat; and

the fact of this was anything but cht ing.

"What is to be done?" asked Huntly. "We can not long exist without water, and our poor beasts are already suffering to an alarming degree, and will not be likely to hold out more than one day more at the most."

"Well, I fancy by that time we shall come to a spot similar to the one behind us.'*

"Then you think we had better go for ward ?"

"I dislike the idea of turning back. Besides, we should probably fall into the hands of the savages, and death here looks full as tempting as there."

"But our horses, Frank poor beasts! see how they suffer."

"I know it, and would to Heaven I could relieve them! But we cannot even help ourselves."

"Do you think they can go through an other day like this ?"

"I am xinable to say."

"Oh! it would be awful to be put afocil in this deseit!"

"By no means n, pleasant matter, I must own. Bui, ray friend, this is no time to got alanned. We have set out, after beiu^ duly warned, <ind must therefore make tl.e most of the circ-awstances we have broug'rtt upon ourselves. If our horses die, we musl use their blood to quench our thirst."

"Heavens! Frank," exclaimed Huntly, startled with a new idea, " what if another day's travel like this should still leave us in the bare desert, with no haven in sight? "

"Why, I should consider our case near ly hopeless; but we will trust to having better fortune."

We now ate some of our meat with bul little relish, and throwing ourselves upon the earth, at length fell into a kind of fe verish slumber. A heavy dew falling du ring the night, refreshed us not a little. At the first streak of daylight, we were again in our saddles, and found, much to our joy, that although our poor bcavs had eaten not a morsel since die morning pre vious, they, like ourselves, were consider ably invigorated by a night of repose. Set ting forward again, as cheerfully as tin circumstances would permit, we traveled some two or three hours at a fast amble; but now the sun bey-an co be felt rathe/