But he crawled back, and his mother, relieved of his restless presence, leaned forward to watch the approach of her husband and the cowboy.

This was the second time in the past two days that an ox had fallen exhausted, and her eyes showed a trace of anxiety.

With the feed so poor and the water so scarce, it seemed as though the heavy wagon, loaded with a few household idols too dear to leave behind, a camp outfit and the necessary clothing and bedding for a woman and two children, was going to be a real handicap on the drive.
"Robert, if we had another wagon, I could drive it and make the load less for these four oxen," she suggested when her husband came up.

"A lighter wagon, perhaps with one team of strong horses, or even with a yoke of oxen, I could drive well enough, and relieve these poor brutes." She pushed back her sun-bonnet and with it a mass of red-brown hair that curled damply on her forehead, and smiled disarmingly.

"Buddy would be the happiest baby boy alive if I could let him drive now and then!" she added humorously.
"Can't make a wagon and an extra yoke of oxen out of this cactus patch," Bob Birnie grinned good humoredly.