"Why don't you try it about the lady?" asked the girl suddenly.

"Well, the fact is, I never thought of it."

"Don't you believe it will do any good?"

"Well, I suppose it might."

"Then let's try it. Let's get off now, quick, and both say it. Maybe it

will help us both. Do you know it all through? Can't you say it?" This

last anxiously, as he hesitated and looked doubtful.

The color came into the man's face. Somehow this girl put him in a very

bad light. He couldn't shoot; and, if he couldn't pray, what would she

think of him?

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"Why, I think I could manage to say it with help," he answered uneasily.

"But what if that man should suddenly appear on the scene?"

"You don't think the prayer is any good, or you wouldn't say that." She

said it sadly, hopelessly.

"O, why, certainly," he said, "only I thought there might be some better

time to try it; but, if you say so, we'll stop right here." He sprang to

the ground, and offered to assist her; but she was beside him before he

could get around his horse's head.

Down she dropped, and clasped her hands as a little child might have done,

and closed her eyes.

"Our Father," she repeated slowly, precisely, as if every word belonged to

a charm and must be repeated just right or it would not work. The man's

mumbling words halted after hers. He was reflecting upon the curious

tableau they would make to the chance passer-by on the desert if there

were any passers-by. It was strange, this aloneness. There was a wideness

here that made praying seem more natural than it would have been at home

in the open country.

The prayer, by reason of the unaccustomed lips, went slowly; but, when it

was finished, the girl sprang to her saddle again with a businesslike

expression.

"I feel better," she said with a winning smile. "Don't you? Don't you

think He heard?"

"Who heard?"

"Why, 'our Father.'"

"O, certainly! That is, I've always been taught to suppose He did. I

haven't much experimental knowledge in this line, but I dare say it'll do

some good some where. Now do you suppose we could get some of that very

sparkling water? I feel exceedingly thirsty."

They spurred their horses, and were soon beside the stream, refreshing

themselves.

"Did you ride all night?" asked the girl.

"Pretty much," answered the man. "I stopped once to rest a few minutes;

but a sound in the distance stirred me up again, and I was afraid to lose

my chance of catching you, lest I should be hopelessly lost. You see, I

went out with a party hunting, and I sulked behind. They went off up a

steep climb, and I said I'd wander around below till they got back, or

perhaps ride back to camp; but, when I tried to find the camp, it wasn't

where I had left it."




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