M ON ARCH S IN EXILE 75 



and were uneasy; yet they were utterly spent, so we had 

 no choice but to rest and picket them. We stopped up 

 the snake holes with hot ashes from our fire, which by 

 the way was made of Buffalo chips or droppings, spread 

 a hair rope or lariat in a circle inside, while we put our- 

 selves on rather than in our blankets." 



" Why did you make a circle with the rope ? " asked 

 Rap. 



" Because one of our party, a scout, said a Rattle- 

 snake would never cross a hair rope, so we put it there 

 to please the man." 



" Did they cross it ? " asked all the children together. 



" No, we started in the morning on our search for 

 water before a single evil-eyed snake had wiggled out, 

 but I thanked the ashes, not the magic rope." 



" Isn't the water rather warm and stale in these 

 water holes? It usually is in such places here," said 

 Rap, looking at the picture again. 



"Of course it is! Dearie me!!" exclaimed the 

 Doctor. " You youngsters would not even know it for 

 water. Wetness is the only thing it has in common 

 with the poorest puddle on the farm. Much of the 

 water of prairie and Bad Lands is a cross between 

 green whitewash and pea soup. Sometimes the lime, of 

 which it is full, shows white and crusty round the pool 

 edges as early ice does here. But to return to our 

 Buffalo procession. 



"'If it was a warm day they would often take a roll 

 in the pools after drinking, and you can imagine what 

 a spectacle a woolly Buffalo would be after such a bath 

 in a mud puddle." 



" How could they like to be so dirty ? " said Olive, 



