All the varied information

Gathered from the few he passed--

Some from herders, some from stragglers

Gave the missing clew at last

As to where old Mac was heading;

For that telltale band of steel

Stamped along the endless roadway

Printed by the turning wheel,

Pressed its image on the memory

Of the settlers coming back,

Who, when questioned by the searcher,

Told him that the telltale track

Had begun to veer to westward

After crossing by the way

Leading up the North Platte River,

Where the sand wastes stretch away.

19  

As he crossed this barren prairie's

Sweeping waste of poverty,

Billy paused beside the cripple

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