Sikes, watching her
slightest movement, seemed to sense the meaning of the action.
"Hell, ain't it?" he said expressively. "You know whar we are?"
"No; but I never before dreamed any spot could be so terrible."
"This is the Shoshone desert; thar ain't nobody ever comes in yere
'cept wunst in a while a prospector, maybe, er a band o' cattle
rustlers. Even the Injuns keep out."
She lifted her eyes again, shuddering as they swept about over the
dismal waste.
"But there is a trail; you could not become lost?"
"Well, yer might call it a trail, tho' thar ain't much left of it after
a sand storm. I reckon thar ain't so many as could follow it any time
o' year, but Matt knows the way all right--you don't need to worry none
about that. He's drove many a load along yere--hey, Matt?"
"You bet; I've got it all marked out, the same as a pilot on the
Missouri. Ye see that sway-back ridge yonder?" pointing with his whip
into the distance ahead. "That's what I'm headin' for now an' when I
git thar a round rock will show up down a sorter gully.
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