Judge Parks to his son.
"Our trip across the plains has been a quick one; all the quicker for
this push."

"Hope there'll be a good spring of water right in the edge of them,"
said Sile, but his voice was huskier than ever and he was struggling
against a feeling of faintness.

"Poor fellow!" said the judge to himself. "I mustn't say too much to
him. It's an awful time for me."

So it was, for every now and then the thought would come to him,

"What if, after all, we should not find water when we get there?"

The sun sank lower and lower, and now at last Yellow Pine stood still
and leaned against his mare, pointing forward.

"Jedge! Jedge--there they are!"

"What is it, Pine?"

The judge could hardly speak, and Sile had such a ringing in his ears
that he could hardly hear, but Yellow Pine gasped out,

"Them there mesquite scrubs. I was just a beginning to say to myself,
what if I'd mistook the lay of the land, and there they are. I went
through 'em last spring was a year ago. It's all right!"

The men tried hard to cheer, but it was of no manner of use. All they
could do was to plod on and drag their horses after them. The teams in
the wagons halted again and again, panting and laboring, and every
slight roll of the plain was a tremendous obstacle, but all was
overcome, inch by inch.

Yellow Pine had evidently felt his responsibility as guide more deeply
than he had been willing to confess. He led on now with his mouth open
and panting, for he had given his own last ration of water to Sile Parks
and was thirstier than the rest of them. So, for that matter, had Sile's
father, but some men suffer more from thirst than others and the judge
had held out remarkably. Just inside the range of mesquites Yellow Pine
stopped short.

"Bufler been killed here inside of two days," he exclaimed. "Must be
Indians nigh, somewhere. Keep an eye out, boys."

It was no time for any caution that included delay, and he walked on
like a man who knew exactly where he was, and all followed him, the men
cutting away the bushes here and there to let the wagons pass more
easily. On, on, until at last Yellow Pine reached the spring.

"Here it is," he said faintly, and then he lay down by it and began to
drink slowly, using his hand for a cup.

"Boys," said Judge Parks, "be careful how you drink too much at first.
Take it easy. Sponge the mouths of the horses and then let them have a
little at a time. Sile, my poor boy, come with m