But Sandy seemed to have no thought of this. His father, mother, sister and brother were going along; and what need then to feel distressed? That was the way the light-hearted lad felt about it; and the one great dream of his young life seemed about to be realized. For many months he had yearned to set eyes on that mysterious and mighty river, that rolled toward the far-off gulf; and whose source was as yet a sealed book to the world. Sandy had hardly slept a wink all through the preceding night. Instead, he tossed on his pillow, and kept picturing what the future would have in store for them in that beautiful land toward the setting sun. No doubt the little mother also lay awake; but for different reasons. Brave wife of a pioneer that she was, surely Mrs. Armstrong must have looked into the future with something of uneasiness. Many wild stories had she listened to from the lips of Pat O'Mara and other valiant souls, who had penetrated part of the distance toward the Mississippi; and doubtless these all came to haunt her now, magnified by the fact that they themselves were about to go forth into that wilderness to build a new home, under conditions that no one could faithfully picture. She managed, however, to conceal much of her womanly fears from the eyes of her loved ones. There were dangers everywhere, and as they supped with them each day that they lived, it was no wonder that by degrees even the women learned to hold peril in contempt. "Looks like it might be a fine morning for a start," Sandy remarked, as they drew near the edge of the flowing current, at a place where a ledge afforded an excellent foothold, when they wished to bend over and wash their faces. "Yes, the spring is here in truth," replied Bob, "and the birds are singing in every tree. After all, this is a beautiful spot, and I fear our mother is not one-half so anxious to leave it as the rest may be." "But just wait till she sees what a glorious country we are going to," declared the ever-sanguine Sandy. "The birds may sing here, but it's nothing to what they will do out there, where the land is so rich that it grows everything they want to eat. And as for game, why, just think of seeing a whole herd of buffaloes that no man could count! Oh! I do wish we were there right now. It has been a long time since we shot a buffalo." "That's so, Sandy," replied Bob, just a little enthusiastic himself; "and if things are half as fine as we've been told, we ought to soon have a splendid little settlement, with a stockade, and gardens, and cabins that will make it home to us." Sandy bent over, and splashed for a minute. He thoroughly enjoyed the cooling water, and, indeed, the boy was never so happy as when swimming, having taken to it when a mere lad. Then he broke out again, showing that, try as he might, he could not keep his thoughts away from the one great subject that held them like a magnet.