"Here you are. When we reach our claims, just ram it into the ground any place at all, and you've staked." "Oh." Glad for something to do, Mr. Simpson held the flag high and waved it. He looked at it closely, as though it were some complicated thing that needed close attention and not just a simple banner. "Those are mighty fine flags, Pete." "They're high enough, and nobody can miss a white flag," Pete said. "People will know our claims are staked." "What do you do then?" asked Mindy. "As I've told you, Mindy," Pete said, "the homesteads have already been surveyed and the corners marked. Some are marked by blazes on trees, but the ones we want have piles of rocks, and I know exactly where they are. After we've staked, we'll build the corners a little higher so nobody can miss them either." They continued to talk, and even though they had already discussed everything they were talking about now, it comforted them to discuss it again. Ann Simpson raised her head, stole a long look at her husband, and turned away again. Her face was haggard and drawn. "I'll help you, Mother," Cindy offered. "I will too," Mindy said. "No, thank you, children, I'll do it," Mrs. Simpson replied. She had baked biscuits two days before, not because there was no time to bake fresh ones today but because Jed and Pete would carry these, and stale bread would not crush so easily. She put the biscuits carefully into a sack, tied the sack in the center, and put a slab of bacon and some beans in the other side. Stale biscuits, bacon, and beans were all the food the two men would have until they sent for Pete's wagon. But the less weight Sunshine had to carry, the faster and farther she'd be able to run. With the biscuits on one side, and the bacon and beans on the other, the sack could be carried across Sunshine's saddle bow. "Come over here, children." It was a calm voice in a great storm, peace amid turmoil. Gramps and Granny Brent, practically the only human beings present who were not under strain and tension, were sitting serenely beside the Brent wagon. Cindy, Mindy, and Alec went gladly to them. "Be of good heart, children," Granny said calmly. "There is nothing to fear." "Are you sure?" Alec asked worriedly. "It is a great thing," Gramps was calm as Granny, "a wonderful and glorious sight. I am glad I have lived to see it. As long as human beings strive for that which is better, the human race can never be lost." "But there's danger!" Mindy whispered. "Aye," Granny remained unruffled, "and people were made to cope with danger. It is only when they shrink from that which they should face, that their souls shrink too." "I remember when we went to Kansas," Gramps began.