sweeping toward us nearer and nearer growing more and more distinct,
more and more sharply defined - nearer and still nearer, and the flutter
of hoofs comes faintly to the ear - another instant a whoop and a hurrah
from our upper deck, a wave of the rider's hands but no reply and man
and horse burst past our excited faces and go winging away like the
belated fragment of a storm!

So sudden is it all, and so like a flash of unreal fancy, that but for a
flake of white foam left quivering and perishing on a mail sack after
the vision had flashed by and disappeared, we might have doubted whether
we had seen any actual horse and man at all, maybe.



[9] This was the same pledge which the original firm had required of its
men. Both Russell, Majors, and Waddell, and the C. O. C. and P. P. Exp.
Co., which they incorporated, adhered to a rigid observance of the
Sabbath. They insisted on their men doing as little work as possible on
that day, and had them desist from work whenever possible. And they
stuck faithfully to these policies. Probably no concern ever won a
higher and more deserved reputation for integrity in the fulfillment of
its contracts and for business reliability than Russell, Majors, and
Waddell.

[10] Exact figures are not obtainable for the west bound mail but it was
probably not so heavy.

At this time - Sept., 1861 - the telegraph had been extended from the
Missouri to Fort Kearney, Nebraska, and letter pouches from the Pony
Express were sent by overland stage from Kearney to Atchison. Messages