made a rampart
which stretched for miles up and down the river and struck the eye with
the actinic power of pure, drifted snow. Here the nature of the prairie
changed, losing its rich, luxuriant verdure, for here the short buffalo
grass began to dominate to a noticeable extent.

The excitement spread. Eager couriers raced back to the plodding caravan
to tell the news. Some of the more impressionable forthwith rode toward
the river, only a few yards away, hot to be the first to splash in its
waters; but they found that prairie air was deceptive and that the
journey over the rolling hillocks was a great deal longer than they had
thought. But a few miles meant nothing to them and they pushed on,
careless of Comanche, Kiowa, or Pawnee Picts, some with their guns empty
from the salute they had fired at sight of the stream. The caravan kept
stolidly on, following a course roughly paralleling the river and not
stopping until evening found it on the far side of Walnut Creek after
they had crossed a belt of such poor grass that they had grave doubts
about the pasturage at the encampment; and the flinty, uncompromising
nature of the ground down the slope of the little divide, in which
seemingly for eternity was graven the strands of the mighty trail,
seemed to justify their fears. But then, while they were worrying the
most, the grass improved and when they had crossed the creek not far
from its mouth they found themselves in a little, timber-fringed valley
thick with tall grass. And they now had entered one of the great danger
spots of the long trail.

Hank Marshall got his fire started in a hurry while his partner looked
after the pack mules; and when Tom came back to attend to the fire and
prepare the supper, Hank dug into his "possible" sack and produced some
line and a fish hook. Making a paste of flour, he mixed it with some
dried moss he had put away and saved for this use. Rolling the little
doughballs and hardening them over the fire he soon strode off up the
creek, looking wise but saying nothing; and a quarter of an hour later
he returned with three big catfish, one of which he ate after he had
consumed a generous portion of buffalo hump-ribs; and he followed the
fish by a large tongue raked out of the ashes of the fire. To judge from
his expression he had enjoyed a successful and highly gratifying day,
and since he was heavy and drowsy with his gorging and had to go on
watch that night, he rolled up in his blanket un