She now rapidly was becoming a good frontierswoman and thoughtful of her locomotive power.

Taking the direction of the cattle herd, she drove from camp a mile or two, resolving to hobble and watch her mules while they grazed close to the cattle guards.
She was alone.

Around her, untouched by any civilization, lay a wild, free world.

The ceaseless wind of the prairie swept old and new grass into a continuous undulating surface, silver crested, a wave always passing, never past.

The sky was unspeakably fresh and blue, with its light clouds, darker edged toward the far horizon of the unbounded, unbroken expanse of alternating levels and low hills.