You
will like that animal--yes? He is lighter than a cavalry horse. Mine, you
will notice, is a trifle heavier. I bought them at a stock farm in
another valley, and rode them up to the place."
The train sent back loud echoes. A girl in a pink sun-bonnet rode up on a
mule and carried off the mail pouch. The station agent was busy inside at
his telegraph instruments and paid no heed to the horsemen. Save for a
few huts clustered on the hillside, there were no signs of human
habitation in sight. The lights in a switch target showed yellow against
the growing dawn.
"I am quite ready, sir," reported Oscar, touching his hat. "There is
nothing here but the station; the settlement is farther on our way."
"Then let us be off," said Armitage, swinging into the saddle.
Oscar led the way in silence along a narrow road that clung close to the
base of a great pine-covered hill. The morning was sharp and the horses
stepped smartly, the breath of their nostrils showing white on the air.
The far roar and whistle of the train came back more and more faintly,
and when it had quite ceased Armitage sighed, pushed his soft felt hat
from his face, and settled himself more firmly in his saddle.
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