almost forgot him as they were gazing over the distant mountain and discussing prospects, till attracted by a slight noise they looked and saw Mr. Indian going down over the cliffs after the fashion of a mountain sheep, and in a few bounds he was out of sight.  They could not have killed him if they had tried, the move so sudden and unlooked for.  They had expected the fellow to show them the way to Owen’s lake, but now their guide was gone, and left nothing to remember him by except his bow and arrows.  So they returned to their wagons not much wiser than before.

All kinds of game was now very scarce, and so seldom seen that the men got tired of carrying their guns, and grew fearless of enemies.  A heavy rifle was indeed burdensome over so long a road when there was no frequent use for it.  The party kept rolling along as fast as possible but the mountains and valleys grew more barren and water more scarce all the time.  When found, the water would be in hole at the outlet of some canon, or in little pools which had filled up with rain that had fallen on the higher ground.  Not a drop of rain had fallen on us since we started on this cut-off, and every night was clear and warm.  The elevated parts of the country seemed to be isolated buttes, with no running streams between them but instead, dry lakes with a smooth clay bed, very light in color and so hard that the track of an ox could not be seen on its glittering surface.  At a distance those clay beds looked like water shining in the sun and were generally about three times as far as any one would judge, the air was so clear.  This mirage, or resemblance to water was so perfect as often to deceive us, and almost to our ruin on one or two occasions.

I took Arcane’s field glass and took pains to ascend all the high buttes within a day’s walk of the road, and this enabled me to get a good survey of the country north and west.  I would sometimes be gone two or three days with no luggage but my canteen and gun.  I was very cautious in regard to Indians, and tried to keep on the safe side of surprises.  I would build a fire about dark and then travel on till I came to a small washed place and lie down and stay till morning, so if Mr. Indian did come to my fire he would not find any one to kill.  One day I was going up a wide ravine leading to the summit, and before I reached the highest part I saw a smoke curl up before me.  I took a side ravine and went cautiously, bowed down pretty low so no one could see me, and when near the top of the ridge and about one hundred yards of the fire I ventured to raise slowly up and take a look to see how many there were in camp:  I could see but two and as I looked across the ravine an Indian woman seemed looking at me also, but I was so low she could only see the top of my head, and I sank down again out of sight.  I crawled further up so as to get a better view, and when I straightened up again she got a full view of me.  She instantly caught her infant off its little pallet made of a