human
It's no use asking you where we are now, I suppose?
gpt
Not a heap, I guess, ma'm,
human
How far is the place supposed to be?
gpt
Eighty miles from Crowsfoot. That's how the boss said, anyways.
human
How far have we come now?
gpt
Crowsfoot to Snarth's farm, thirty-five miles, good. Snarth's to Rattler Head, thirty. Sixty-five. Fifteen into this precious camp on Yellow Creek. Guess we bin comin' along good since sun-up, an' now it's noon. Countin' our stop fer breakfast we ought to make thirty odd miles. Guess we come a good hundred.
human
I think your employer ought to be ashamed of himself sending you to do the journey. You don't know where you are, or what direction we're going in. The horses are nearly foundered, and we may be miles and miles from our destination. What are you going to do?
gpt
Ke'p goin' jest as long as the hosses ken ke'p foot to the ground. Guess we'll ease 'em at the bottom, here. It's nigh feed time. Say, ma'm, it ain't no use worritin'. We'll git som'eres sure. The sun's dead ahead.
human
What's the use of that? Mercy Lascelles snapped at the man's easy acceptance of the situation.
gpt
I wish now I'd come by Leeson Butte.
human
That's sure how the boss said, retorted the man.
gpt
The Leeson trail is the right one. It's a good trail, an' I know most every inch of it. You was set comin' round through the hills. Guessed you'd had enough prairie on the railroad. It's up to you. Howsum, we'll make somewheres by nightfall. Seems to me I got a notion o' that hill, yonder. That one, out there, he went on, pointing with his whip at a bald, black cone rising in the distance against the sky.
human
That kind o' seems like the peak o' Devil's Hill. I ain't jest sure, but it seems like.
gpt
I hope to goodness it is. Devil's Hill. A nice name. That's where the camp is, isn't it? I wish you'd hurry on.