"I ain't really got none," he admitted doggedly, "less it be a blind
trust in Divine Providence; still I got a medium strong grip on a few
things. That Capley girl told you that Matt Moore drove out on the
ridge road?"
"Yes; I asked her about that twice."
"Well, he likely was headed for this yere Sunken Valley. That's point
number one. But he never followed the ridge road very far, for it
skirts the desert. He must have turned off south--but where?"
"Near the lone cottonwood is my guess."
"Why?"
"Because there is a swale there of hard sand, which is easily followed,
and leaves no trail. On either side for miles the sand is in drifts,
and no two horses would ever pull a wagon through it. This hard ridge,
which is more rock than sand, goes straight south to Badger Springs,
the only place to get water. I was there once, three years ago."
"You've hit it, old man," exclaimed the other confidently. "That's
exactly how I had it doped out. He'd have to use that swale, or go ten
miles farther east. I never was at Badger myself, but I've travelled
that ridge road some, with my eyes open.
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