and glanced at Kit, then spoke to Shirley: "How far
away do you reckon that lake is, Miss?"

"A mile!" replied Bet decidedly.

"No, it's more than that," corrected Shirley. "I remember of reading
somewhere that distances in the desert are very deceiving. It's
probably a lot farther off than it seems. I'll say five miles."

"Let's hurry and get there so we can eat our lunch at the water's
edge," suggested Joy.

"That's an idea!" replied Matt with a sly glance at Kit. "We'll try
and get there by lunch time."

"And look at the lovely trees!" cried Joy. "It's like an oasis in the
desert, isn't it?"

But half an hour later they were no nearer the lake than when they had
first seen it. A haziness now hung over the water, partly hiding it,
and the trees seemed to be floating in mid air.

"That lake might be called 'Lake Illusion,'" laughed Bet. "It
certainly is unreal enough! Don't let us wait until we get there to
eat lunch. I'm starved. After we've eaten we'll appreciate the view
more, anyway."

Even as they watched the mistiness increased and then suddenly seemed
to dissolve, leaving the desert stretched out before them, hard, sullen
and cruel.

The lake was gone. The waving trees were gone.

Then the girls realized what they had just witnessed. The mirage of
the desert! That enticing promise of water that had been the undoing
of many a pioneer of the early days!

A thoughtful expression came into the faces of the girls, and their
enthusiasm vanished for a few minutes. Stories of by gone days came
into their minds, stories of weary travellers who had been beckoned by
the mirage and taken miles out of their way by this false promise,
perhaps to die of thirst.

"How hard life used to be for the pioneers," said Bet wistfully. "And
so easy for us!"

"But why did the pioneers go out on the desert?" asked Joy lightly.
"They didn't have to do it, did they?"

"Of course not, Joy," answered Bet. "But they wanted adventure and
they were seeing another sort of mirage. It was the hope of gold and a
fortune in the hills."

Bet gazed out over the vast stretch of mesa as if she were living
through those early days herself, instead of being carried along by a
high-powered car that ate up the miles easily and swiftly.

A low whistle from Matt brought the girls out of their day dreams to
follow his glance ahead.

Far along the sandy road was a man trudging along with a bundle over
his shoulder.

"Th