I talked to her as encouragingly as I could, but she did not cheer up much and sobbed and wept over her work most all the time.  It was not possible to encourage her much, the outlook seemed so dark.  Mrs. Arcane sat under another wagon and said nothing, but she probably heard all we had to say, and did not look as if her hopes were any brighter.  Bennett and Rogers soon returned with a supply of salt and said the whole shore of the lake was a winrow of it, that could be shoveled up in enormous quantities.

We now in a counsel of the whole, talked over the matter, and the way which seemed most promising.  If we went by the Jayhawkers trail, there was a week of solid travel to get over the range and back south again as far as a point directly opposite our camp, and this had taken us only three days to come over as we had come.  The only obstacle in the way was the falls, and when we explained that there was some sand at the bottom of them, Bennett said he thought we could get them over without killing them, and that, as we knew exactly where the water was, this was the best trail to take.  Arcane was quite of the same opinion, the saving of a week of hard and tiresome travel being in each case the deciding reason.  They then explained to me what they had decided on doing if we had not come back.  They had selected two oxen for the women to ride one to carry water and one to carry the four children.  There were no saddles but blankets enough to make a soft seat, and they proposed to put a band or belt around the animals for them to hold on by, and the blankets would be retained in place by breast and breeching straps which we had made.  They had found out that it was very difficult to keep a load of any kind upon an ox, and had devised all this harness to meet the trouble.

Bennett had one old bridle ox called Old Crump, which had been selected to carry the children, because he was slow and steady.  How in the world do you expect it to keep the children on?—­said I.  “Well”—­said Bennett, with a sort of comical air, about the first relief from the sad line of thought that had possessed us all—­“We have taken two strong hickory shirts, turned the sleeves inside, sewed up the necks, then sewed the two shirts together by the tail, and when these are placed on the ox they will make two pockets for the youngest children, and we think the two others will be able to cling to his back with the help of a band around the body of the ox to which they can cling to, with their hands.”  Now if Old Crump went steady and did not kick up and scatter things, he thought this plan would operate first rate.  Now as to the mule they proposed as we knew how to pack the animal, that we should use her to pack our provisions so they would go safe.

From a piece of hide yet remaining John and I made ourselves some new moccasins, and were all ready to try the trip over our old trail for now the third time, and the last, we hoped.

Mrs. Bennett and Mrs. Arcane had taken our advice, and in cooking had not put too much of the flour or beans into the soup for the children and they had gotten along nicely, and even began to smile a little with satisfaction after a full meal.  They got along better than John and I did when we got hold of the first nutritions after our arrival on the other side.