e firm clasp of his hand told
how earnest he was, and that he felt more than he could speak.

He helped Mrs. Arcane on her horse, then gave Charlie to her, and, amid
waving hands and many _adios_ from our new-found friends, with repeated
"good byes" from the old ones, they rode away. Mrs. Arcane could hardly
speak when she bade us farewell, she was so much affected. They had
about sixty miles to ride to reach the sea, and as she rode on a man's
saddle, and was unused to riding, I knew she would be sadly wearied
before she reached the coast.

Our little train now seemed much smaller. Three oxen and a mule were all
our animals, and the adults must still walk, as they had done on our
desert route. But we were comparatively happy, for we had plenty of good
meat to eat, plenty of sweet water to drink, and our animals were
contented and improving every day; grass and water seemed plenty
everywhere. We put our luggage on the oxen and the mule, loaded the
children on Old Crump as we had done before, and were ready to move
again. Our good friends stood around and smiled good-naturedly at our
queer arrangements, and we, not knowing how to say what our hearts would
prompt us to, shook their hands and said good bye in answer to their
"_adios amigos_" as we moved away, waving hands to each other.

The men then detained me a little while to ask me more about the road we
had come over, how far it was, and how bad the Indians were, and other
particulars. I told him by signs that we had been twenty-two days on the
road, and that the _Indianos_, as they called them, had not troubled us,
but that there was very little grass or water in all that land. He made
a sort of map on the ground and made me understand he would like to go
back and try to bring out the wagons we had left behind, and he wanted
me to go back with him and help him. I explained to him by the map he
had made, and one which I made myself, that I considered it impossible
to bring them over. He seemed much disappointed, and with a shrug of his
shoulders said "_mucho malo_" (very bad) and seemed to abandon the idea
of getting a Yankee wagon. They very much admired an American wagon, for
their own vehicles were rude affairs, as I shall bye-and-bye describe.
We bade each other many _adios_, and I went on my way, soon catching up
with the little party. We had been informed that it was ten leagues, or
thirty miles to Los Angeles, whither we were now headed.

We had now been a