The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1924-09-05

r their efforts to rise, until their Zee
= were doctored. This was no Sigh
: task for men to undertake, who dl
: not possess the skill of cowboys
4 but it afforded plenty of amuse
;. ment for those who witnessed tn
performance from safe distance
One evening long after sunset
we made camp in a valley between
: low lying hills beside rivulet tina
took circuitous course through it
Had the hour not ben so late W.
! would have continued further IL
: search of a more inviting place t
, spend the night, for the earth al
about us was covered with a white
incrustation that warned us the
stream was alkili.
The oxen after being unyokec
were not turned out to Craze, but
weer tied to the wagon WHEELS, as
have already explained was the Gus
tom when spending the night near
alkali water. Our large canteens
supplied enough water of the more
wholesome kind for cooking and
drinking. There was not enough
of this, however, except for the
might. We must rise early and
reach a more desirable camping
place before breakfasting.
All night long the oxen moaned,
in manner pitiful to hear, and we
rejoined when morning came, and
we could drive on. AS soon as it
was light enough to see, the oxen
were yoked to the wagons and we
started out, men and beast hunger
ing and athirst.
My cousin Lucia and I walked
ahead of the train, as we had often
done for exercise. We took by
path not following the road. There
were no flowers to gather, and the
scant heritage had a stunted and
sickly appearance that we attribut-
ed to the alkali in the soil. The
white crust that was crushed under
our feet, was not entirely white, but
of dingy hue, it had acquired
from the earth with which it was
mixed.
Lucia, possessed of that well
known characteristic of women,
curiosity, remarked, Il wonder how
alkali tastes. I mean to find out.
"Don't!" I demonstrated. Its
poison"
what if it is? I shan't swallow
it." And, SO saying, she bent down
and breaking off a piece of the
crust that semed cleaner than the
rest, she put it to her mouth, while
l watched her apprehensively.
Suddenly she exclaimed, "This
isn't alkali-it tastes like salt.
I tried a piece, and was of the
same opinion. This was some
thing unheard of-salt distributed n
over the ground in lavish manner.
Where did it come from? Certainly Il
it had not rained down from the
sky like mama. A small amount
Of it might have been thrown out II
by a passing train; but this covered
the whole valley.
Then we thought of the creek and
Fastening to it, discovered that the
water was undeniably salt. Re \
to the road, we waited pa
.iently, or as patiently as was pos
sible, considering the wonderful in
we could impart-infor-
nation not contained in the guide
book, that claimed to note every
hing unusual along the route. III
Explanatory of the guide book, II
t should be said that our guide, II
Who came with us from Ohio to
Joint out the way, ceased to func- II
ion when we took the cutoff. 1t II
vas as new to him as it was to us. II
n his former journey across the N
Plains, he had taken the lower H
DAD; the cutoff then being I'M III
.nown. lII
After what seemed to my cousin II
nd | an unconscionable length of III
ime, the train came in sight, the II
ken straining against their yokes, II
nd slowly Flooding along, lung III
ng forward momentarily at the III
rack of the drivers whip, to lapse III
gain into their former steady pace. III
It last the wagons drew up beside II
S and we told what we had found. III
,ur theory was not credited at first III
1t was too marvellous to be be- III
eyed. This skepticism was fol-
WED by general testing bee, III
hich confirmed our statement. HI
All forgot that they were hun II
~, and there was rush to the H
-agons for various receptacles, the h
- ~AHA HI