It was no boys' play! The tough, half-broken Indian ponies kept steady stride, leaping the drifts, skimming rapidly along the bare hillsides.

From dawn to dark scarcely a word was uttered.

By turns they slept in the saddle, the one awake gripping the others' rein.

Once, in a strip of cottonwood, beside a frozen creek, they paused to light a fire and make a hasty meal.

Then they were off again, facing the frosty air, riding straight into the north.