For the moment mother believed I was right, but then Eben Jordan
dampened our joy by telling us that we must ride over the ridge five or
six miles, where were no signs of water, and then we would come upon
another plain of salt, which was not less than twelve miles in width.
Only after that had been crossed might we find ourselves in safety.
[Illustration]
Ellen threw herself face downward upon the bed in the bottom of the
wagon, and lay there as if in a fit of the sulks, while I crouched by
mother's side, wondering how long it would be before death came, for I
had grown so foolish in my sufferings that it was as if life was nearly
at an end.