In other words, Bennington was to hold the ends of the reins while some
one else drove. But he did not know that. He felt his responsibility.

As to the assessment work, Old Mizzou had already assured him there was
no immediate hurry; men were cheaper in the fall. As to investigating,
he started in on that at once. He and Davidson climbed down shafts, and
broke off ore, and worked the gold pan. It was fun.

In the morning Bennington decided to work from seven until ten on
_Aliris_. Then for three hours he and Old Mizzou prospected. In the
afternoon the young man took a vacation and hunted Wild Western
adventures.

It may as well be remarked here that Bennington knew all about the West
before he left home. Until this excursion he had never even crossed the
Alleghanies, but he thought he appreciated the conditions thoroughly.
This was because he was young. He could close his eyes and see the
cowboys scouring the plain. As a parenthesis it should be noted that
cowboys always scour the plain, just as sailors always scan the
horizon. He knew how the cowboys looked, because he had seen Buffalo
Bill's show; and he knew how they talked, because he had read accurate
authors of the school of Bret Harte. He could even imagine the
romantic mountain maidens.

With his preconceived notions the country, in most particulars, tallied
interestingly. At first Bennington frequented the little town down the
draw. It answered fairly well to the story-book descriptions, but
proved a bit lively for him. The first day they lent him a horse. The
horse looked sleepy. It took him twenty minutes to get on the animal