ALONG FOUR-FOOTED TRAILS 



his ancient thoughts and fossils, " the wild 

 ponies that roam over the plains at the present 

 time are descendants from the horses that 

 strayed away from the Spaniards at the time of 

 their invasion and became wild." The interest 

 in the ponies grew deeper in the minds of the 

 teacher and her cowboy friend as they thought 

 of the ancient life and the progress of the horse. 

 After that they often talked over the wonderful 

 problem of life and they were inspired with 

 new hopes and ambitions as they thought of 

 the parting words of the wise little Professor. 

 " Living beings cannot stand still indefinitely ; 

 they must progress or perish." 



The cowboys followed the wild ponies on 

 numerous occasions during the fall and winter, 

 but always with barren results. The stallion 

 and mare were off at first sight, closely followed 

 by the others who ran with nearly equal speed; 

 the less fleet ones following along in the rear 

 with the little, white pony. Thus they often 

 covered many a mile. Though apparently lost 

 in the ravines or canons, they always reappeared 

 on some distant knoll. It was a veritable nat- 

 ural history game of hide and seek. 



[96] 



