a bit: thar's always a change when things are better 'n common."

I needed not to inquire the consequences, should Rube's prediction prove
correct; that was evident to all of us. The moon once obscured by
clouds, our progress would be arrested: even a horse could not be
tracked in the darkness.

We were not long in suspense. Again the foresight of the old trapper
proved unerring. Cumuli rolled up the sky one after another, until
their black masses shrouded the moon. At first, they came only in
detached clouds, and there was light at intervals; but these were only
the advanced columns of a heavier body, that soon after appeared; and
without a break, spread itself pall-like over the firmament.

The moon's disc became entirely hidden from our view; her scattered
beams died out; and the prairie lay dark as if shadowed by an eclipse.

We could follow the trail no farther. The ground itself was not
visible, much less the hoof-prints we had been tracing; and halting
simultaneously, we drew our horses togther, and sat in our saddles to
deliberate upon what was best to be done.

The consultation was a short one. They who formed that little party
were all men of prairie or backwoods experience, and well versed in the
ways of the wilderness. It took them but little time to decide what
course should be followed; and they were unanimous in their opinion.
Should the sky continue clouded, we must give up the pursuit till
morning, or adopt the only alternative--follow the trail by
_torchlight_.

Of course the latter was determined upon. It was yet early in the
night; many hours must intervene before we should have the light of day.
I could not live through those long hours without action. Even though
our progress might be slow, the knowledge that we were advancing would
help to stifle the painfulness of reflection.

"A torch! a torch!"

Where was such a thing to be procured? We had with us no material with
which to make one; there was no timber near! We were in the middle of a
naked prairie. The universal mesquite--the _algar obia glandulosa_--
excellent for such a purpose--grew nowhere in the neighbourhood. Who
was to find the torch? Even Rube's ingenuity could not make one out of
nothing.

"Ecoutez, mon capitaine!" cried Le Blanc, an old voyageur--"ecoutez! vy
me no ride back, et von lanterne bring from ze ville Mexicaine?"

True, why not? We were yet but a few miles from the rancheria. The
Canadian's id