The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1924-09-04

lllllCl (OlltiS ain 0ANAAiA4Ss
en- were thrown and held in spite o.
their efforts to rise, until their fee
were doctored. This was no slight
task for men to undertake, who die
not possess the skill of cowboys
but it afforded plenty of amuse-
ment for those who witnessed the
performance from a safe distance.
One evening long after sunset,
we made camp in a valley between
low lying hills beside a rivulet that
took a circuitous curse through 1t.
Had the hour not ben so late we
would have continued further IN
search of a more inviting place to
spend the night, for the earth all
about us was covered with a white
incrustation that warned us the
stream was alkili.
The oxen after being unyoked
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
night. We must rise early and
reach a more desirable camping
place before breakfasting.
All night long the oxen moaned,
in a manner pitiful to hear, and we
reio1ned 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 | walked
ahead of the train, as we had often
done for exercise. We took a 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 a dingy hue, it had acquired
from the earth with which it was
mixed.
Lucia, possessed of that well
known characteristic of women,
remarked, Il wonder how
alkali tastes. | mean to find out"
"Don'tl" 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 seemed cleaner than the
rest, she put it to her mouth, while
I watched her apprehensively.
Suddenly she exclaimed, "This
alkali-it tastes like salt"
| tried a piece, and was of the
same opinion. This was some
thing unheard of-salt distributed
over the ground in a lavish manner
Where did it come from? Certainly
it had not rained down from the
sky like mamma. A small amount
Of it might have been thrown out
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-
turning to the road, we waited pa
.iently, or as patiently as wa pos
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.
Explanatory of the guide book,
t should be said that our guide,
who came with us from Ohio to
out the way, ceased to func-
ion when we took the cutoff. 1t
vas as new to him as it was to us.
n his former journey across the
he had taken the lower
Dad; the cutoff then being I'M
n
After what seemed to my cousin
nd I an unconscionable length of
ime, the train came in sight, the
ken straining against their Jokes, |
nd slowly plodding along, lung \
ng forward momentarily at the \
rack of the drivers whip, to lapse
gain into their former steady pace.
1t last the wagons drew up beside
S and we told what we had found.
Dur theory was not credited at first
1t was too marvellous to be be-
This s~kepticism was fol-
owed by a general testing bee, Y
yhich confirmed our statement.
All forgot that thew were hun