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The Covered Wagon Eh 8660K 2023-09-03

"What's wrong with the people, Cale?" deate of his

stouthearted associate, Caleb Price The sun o hours high, but not

all the breakfast fires were going Men were moody, truculent, taciturn,

as they went about their duties

Caleb Price bit into his yellow beard as he gazed down the irregular

lines of the encampment

"Do you want me to tell you the truth, Jesse?"

"Why, yes!"

"Well, then, it seems to me the truth is that this train has lost

focus"

"I don't knohat you ht--don't know I can uess plain Of

course, every day we lay up, the whole train goes to pieces The thing

to do is to go a little way each day--get into the habit You can't wear

out a road as long as this one by spurts--it's steady does it

"But I don't think that's all The main trouble is one that I don't like

to hint to you, especially since none of us can help it"

"Out with it, Cale!"

"The trouble is, the people don't think they've got a leader"

Jesse Wingate colored above his beard

"That's pretty hard," said he