Whispering Winds led the horse below a stone upon which the invalid stood, thus enabling him to mount.

Then she got on behind him.
The sun was just gilding the horizon when they rode out of the woods into a wide plain.

No living thing could be seen.

Along the edge of the forest the ground was level, and the horse traveled easily.
Several times during the morning Joe dismounted beside a pile of stones or a fallen tree.

The miles were traversed without serious inconvenience to the invalid, except that he grew tired.