But boyish nature is apt to soon recover from these things; and once they had shut out the familiar scene, and turned their faces toward the west, they gradually recovered their customary spirits. [Illustration: "AT THE EDGE OF THE WOODS THEY STOPPED THEIR HORSES, AND TURNED IN THE SADDLE TO WAVE A FAREWELL."] At the edge of the woods they stopped their horses, and turned in the saddle to wave a farewell. Across the field there welled the hearty calls of fathers and grandfather; while the shrill voice of Sam bade them not to forget that they had promised to fetch him back some memento of the country on the upper reaches of the Missouri, which some day, if he lived to be a man, he meant to visit for himself. "Ready, Roger?" asked Dick, in a husky tone; for he knew that the sooner his impulsive cousin were started, so that the trees might shut out all view of those loved faces, the better. "Yes, come on, Dick!" answered the other, gulping hard. A word to the horses, and they were off. The heavy woods immediately came between, and, even though they turned in the saddle again, nothing of their home could they see. The boys rode at a fast pace, because it seemed to agree with their spirits, just then, and they felt that they wanted to place some distance between themselves and home, possibly lest their resolution fail them. And in thus making their start upon such a tremendous undertaking, what strange pictures must have occupied the minds of the adventurous pair, as they surveyed that uncertain future, which might be peopled with such adventures as mortals had never before dreamed of meeting? But, just as Dick had foreseen would be the case, in half an hour both had seemingly recovered their spirits and were looking hopefully to the future to fulfill some of the many dreams that had filled their minds ever since the subject of the long journey had been broached. CHAPTER VIII THE TRACK OF THE MARKED HOOF "WHAT'S gone wrong, Roger?" "Our packhorse has disappeared in the night; I've looked high and low for him, Dick, but it's no use." "Did you hobble him the way we had the other animals fixed?" asked the other lad. "Yes, but you know he always had a habit of straying farther than either of the riding horses; and the chances are he's gone so far now that he doesn't know the way back. What will we do about it, Dick; wait over and spend the best part of a day looking for him; or divide up the stuff, and get on?" Impatient Roger undoubtedly would be for the latter method of solving the question, if left to his own devices. He was already tired of the slow progress they seemed to have been making in all these weeks they had been on the go. "Well, in the first place," began Dick, "we ought to make some sort of a hunt for the packhorse. We've managed to keep him with us so far, after some narrow shaves, and it would be a great pity to let him go just because we didn't want to take the trouble to look him up."