Cranes and herons flew on with lumbering motion; flocks of ducks winged swift flight from one side to the other.

Beyond this depression the land sloped rather abruptly; outcroppings of rock circled along the edge of the highest ground, and again a dark fringe of trees appeared.
How many miles! wondered Helen.

They seemed as many and as long as the hours.

But at last, just as another hard rain came, the pines were reached.

They proved to be widely scattered and afforded little protection from the storm.
Helen sat her saddle, a dead weight.