The pony trotted contentedly behind. Just before night I
rode her ahead, looking for the lake. I found it to be a small
one, perhaps a half-mile wide, scarcely below the level of the
prairie, and generally with marshy shores, though on one side the
beach was sandy and stony, with a few stunted cottonwood-trees,
and here I decided we would camp. I went back and guided the
Rattletrap to the spot. Soon Jack had a roaring fire going from
the dry wood which Ollie had collected. I fed the horses and
turned them loose, and they began eagerly on the green grass
which grew on the damp soil near the lake. The pony I picketed
with a long rope and a strap around one of her forward ankles,
between her hoof and fetlock, as we scarcely felt like trusting
her all night. Snoozer got up for his supper, and after that
stretched himself by the fire and blinked at it sleepily. The
rest of us did much the same. After a while Ollie said.
"I think that bed in the wagon looks pretty narrow for two.
How are three going to sleep in it?"
"I don't think three are going to sleep in it," said Jack.
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