about to
emerge from the last bit of forest I suggest that we fill all our water
bottles from this brook among the trees. Thomas has talked so feelingly
about thirst that I want to provide against it. We will not strike here
the deserts that are to be found in the far south, but we may well have
long periods without water free from alkali."

They had many leather water bottles, their packs having been prepared
with all the skill of experience and sound judgment, and they filled all
of them at the brook, which was pure and cold, flowing down from the
mountains. At one of the deeper pools which had a fine bottom of gravel
they bathed thoroughly, and afterward let the horses and mules wade into
the water and take plunges they seemed to enjoy greatly.

"An' now," said the Little Giant, taking off his hat and looking back,
"good-bye trees, good-bye hills, good-bye, high mountains, good-bye all
clear, cold streams like this, an' good-bye, you grand White Dome. Say
them words after me, young William, 'cause when we git out on the great
plains we're likely to miss these friends o' ourn."

He spoke with evident feeling, and Will, taking off his hat, said the
words after him, though with more regard to grammar.

"And now, after leading them most of the way," said Boyd, "we'll ride on
the backs of our horses."

The four mounted, and, while they regretted the woods and the running
water they were about to leave behind them, they were glad to ride once
more, and they felt the freedom and exhilaration that would come with
the swift, easy motion of their horses. The pack animals, knowing the
hands that fed and protected them, would follow with certainty close
behind them, and Will, in particular, could lead them as if he had been
training them for years.

The vast sweep of the plains into which they now emerged showed great
natural beauty, that is, to those who loved freedom and space, and the
winds came untarnished a thousand miles. Before them stretched the
country, not flat, but in swell on swell, tinted a delicate green, and
with wild flowers growing in the tufts of grass.

"I've roamed over 'em for years," said Brady, "and after a while they
take a mighty grip on you. It may be all the stronger for me, because
I'm somewhat solitary by nature."

"You're shorely not troubled by neighbors out here," said the Little
Giant. "I've passed three or four months at a time in the mountings
without a soul to speak to but myself. Th