"Don't stop! Help me to climb back and cover myself up!" She was quite out of sight when the carriage turned out to pass, drove on ahead, and then halted partly across the road so as to show that the occupants wanted word with me.

I brought my wagon to a stop beside them.
"We are looking," said the man in the carriage, "for a young girl traveling alone on foot over the prairie." The man was clearly a preacher.

He wore a tall beaver hat, though the day was warm, and a suit of ministerial black.

His collar stood out in points on each side of his chin, and his throat rested on a heavy stock-cravat which went twice around his neck and was tied in a stout square knot under his chin on the second turn.

Under this black choker was a shirt of snowy white, as was his collar, while his coat and trousers looked worn and threadbare.