put me on the line."

"It would take a darn sight cuter fellow than I am to direct you to him
at present," the man said with a laugh. "Straight Harry went away from
here three months ago, and he might be just anywhere now. He may be
grubbing away in a mine, he may be hunting and trapping, or he may have
been wiped out by the Indians. I know where he intended to go, at least
in a general sort of way. He did tell me he meant to stay about there,
and it may be he has done so. He said if he moved away and got a chance
he would send me word; but as there ain't nairy a post-office within
about five hundred miles of where he is, his only chance of sending a
letter would be by a hunter who chanced to be going down to the
settlements, and who, like enough, would put it into his hunting-shirt
and never give it another thought. So whether he has stayed there or not
is more nor I can say."

"And where is _there?_" Tom asked. "It is among the hills to the west
of the Colorado River, which ain't much, seeing as the Colorado is about
two thousand miles long. However, I can put you closer than that, for he
showed me on a map the bit of country he intended to work. He said he
would be back here in six months from the time he started; and that if
you turned up here I was either to tell you the best way of getting
there, or to keep you here until he came back. Well, I may say at once
that there ain't no best way; there is only one way, and that is to get
on a pony and ride there, and a mighty bad way it is. The only thing for
you to do is to keep on west along the caravan tract. You have to cross
the Green River,--that is the name of the Colorado on its upper course.
Fort Bridger is the place for you to start from, but you have got to
wait there until you sight some one or other bound south; for as to
going by yourself, it would be a sight better to save yourself all