The
prairie-lark, the last of the singing birds, whistled softly and
infrequently from the dry grass. The gulls were streaming south from
the lakes.

They were driving her to Boomtown to avoid the inquisitive eyes of the
good people of Belleplain. "I may break down an' blubber," said Anson
to Bert; "an' if I do, I don't want them cussed idiots standin' around
laughin'--it's better to go on the C., B. and Q., anyhow."

Notwithstanding his struggle to keep talk going, Anson was unsuccessful
from the very moment that Belleplain faded to an unsubstantial group of
shadows and disappeared from the level plain into the air, just as
Boomtown correspondingly wavered into sight ahead. Silence so profound
was a restraint on them all, and poor Flaxen with wide eyes looked
wistfully on the plain that stretched away into unknown regions. She
was thinking of her poor mother, whom she dimly remembered in the
horror of that first winter. Naturally of a gay, buoyant disposition,
she had not dwelt much upon her future or her past; but now that the
familiar plain seemed slipping from her sight entirely, she was
conscious of its beauty, and, rapt with the associated emotions which
came crowding upon her, she felt as though she were leaving the tried
and true for the unknown and uncertain.

"Boys," she said finally, "do you s'pose I've got any folks?"

"I shouldn't wonder if y' had, babe, somewhere back in the ol'
country."

"They couldn't talk with me if I could find 'em, could they?"

"I reckon not, 'less you study so hard that you can learn their lingo,"
said Ans, seeing another opportunity to add a reason for going to
school.

"Well, boys, that's what I'm goin' to do, an' by an' by we'll go over
there an' see if we can't find 'em, won't we?"

"That's the talk; now you're gittin' down to business," rejoined Ans.

"I s'pose St. Peter is a good 'eal bigger'n Boomtown," she said
sighfully, as they neared the "emporium of the sleepy James."

"A little," said the astute Gearheart.

The clanging of the engines and the noise of shouting gave her a
sinking sensation in the chest, and she clung to Anson's arm as they
drove past the engine. She was deafened by the hiss of the escaping
steam of the monster standing motionless, headed toward the east, ready
to leap on its sounding way.

On the platform they found Miss Holt and a number of other friends
waiting. There was a great deal of clanging and whanging and scuffling,
it seemed t