ning,
the sun is not yet up, but all is light and even and soft and
all-surrounding, so that there are no shadows. In every direction
the gently rolling country is dotted brown and white from the
incomplete melting of winter's snows. In the low places tiny
streams of snow-water, melted yesterday, sing low under the
lattice-work blanket the frost has built in the night. Nearby and in
the distance prairie-chickens are calling, lonely, uncertain. Wild
ducks in confused masses, mere specks in the distance, follow low
over the winding curves of the river. High overhead, flocks of geese
in regular black wedges, and brant, are flying northward, and the
breezy sound of flapping wings and of voices calling, mingle in the
sweetest of all music to those who know the prairies--Nature's
morning song of springtime.

"What a country! Look there!" The big man in the front seat of the
rough, low wagon pointed east where the sun rose slowly from the lap
of the prairie. The other men cleared their throats as if to speak,
but said nothing.

"And I've lived sixty years without knowing," continued the first
voice, musingly.

"I've never been West before, either," admitted De Young, simply.

They drove on, the trickling of snow-water sounding around the wagon
wheels.

The third man, Clark, pointed back in the direction they had come.

"Did any one back there inquire what we were doing?" he asked.

"A fellow 'lowed,' with a rising inflection, that we were hunting
ducks," said De Young. "I temporized; made him forget that I hadn't
answered. You know what will happen once the curiosity of the natives
is aroused."

"I wasn't approached," Morris joined in, without turning. The corners
of the big man's mouth twitched, as the suggested picture formed
swiftly in his mind.

After a pause, De Young spoke again.

"I gave the postmaster a specially good tip to see that we got our
mail out promptly."

"So did I," Clark admitted.

The face of the serious man lighted; and, their eyes meeting, the
three friends smiled all together.

The sun rose higher, without a breath of wind from over the prairies,
and one after another the men removed their top-coats. The horses'
hoofs splashed at each step in slush and running water, sending drops
against the dashboard with a sound like rain.

The trail which they were following could now scarcely be seen, except
at intervals on higher ground, where hoof-prints and the tracks of
wheels were scored i