We drank, as did all our company, of the water which we carried in kegs
stowed in the wagons, and gave no heed to the fact that the supply was
scanty, for until this time there had never been any lack of water.
At noon even the breeze died away; there was not a cloud in the sky,
the trail was smooth and hard, running over what father called the
tableland of the prairie, and the heat so intense that there were times
when it surely seemed as if I could not longer continue to breathe.
Then, when our sufferings were seemingly as great as they could
possibly be, mother discovered that our store of water had been
exhausted, and called to father, asking that he get a supply from one
of the other wagons.
It seemed strange to me then, and does even now, that at almost the
same time all our company had run short of water, and from one end
of the long train to the other we could not beg enough to moisten our
tongues.
[Illustration]
Perhaps it was the knowledge that I could not quench my thirst which
caused me to suffer more severely, and when father said we must travel
no less than twelve miles before coming to any stream, my heart sank
within me.
Ellen was suffering quite as much as I, except that she had the good
sense to hold her peace, and mother, patient with me as ever, said all
she could to prevent me from dwelling too much upon my condition.
Nor was I the only one in that company to suffer severely. Whenever the
train came to a halt that the cattle might have a breathing spell, I
could hear the smaller children crying for something to drink, and once
during the afternoon Eben Jordan came alongside our wagon, asking if
our water kegs were empty.
Then I saw upon his face that look of eagerness and desire such as I
had read on Ellen's, and when I told him we were suffering from thirst
even more than any other members of the company, he shook his head and
replied:--
"It is the younger ones who suffer the most, Martha Early, for they
cannot be made to understand that it is necessary to wait; while you
and I, who are older, know it is only a case of grinning and bearing it
as best we may."