CHAPTER XXII. RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE 

Black Star and Night, answering to spur, swept swiftly westward along the white, slow-rising, sage-bordered trail. Venters heard a mournful howl from Ring, but Whitie was silent. The blacks settled into their fleet, long-striding gallop. The wind sweetly fanned Venters's hot face. From the summit of the first low-swelling ridge he looked back. Lassiter waved his hand; Jane waved her scarf. Venters replied by standing in his stirrups and holding high his sombrero. Then the dip of the ridge hid them. From the height of the next he turned once more. Lassiter, Jane, and the burros had disappeared. They had gone down into the Pass. Venters felt a sensation of irreparable loss. 

"Bern--look!" called Bess, pointing up the long slope. 

A small, dark, moving dot split the line where purple sage met blue sky. That dot was a band of riders. 

"Pull the black, Bess." 

They slowed from gallop to canter, then to trot. The fresh and eager horses did not like the check. 

"Bern, Black Star has great eyesight." 

"I wonder if they're Tull's riders. They might be rustlers. But it's all the same to us." 

The black dot grew to a dark patch moving under low dust clouds. It grew all the time, though very slowly. There were long periods when it was in plain sight, and intervals when it dropped behind the sage. The blacks trotted for half an hour, for another half-hour, and still the moving patch appeared to stay on the horizon line. Gradually, however, as time passed, it began to enlarge, to creep down the slope, to encroach upon the intervening distance.  QUESTIONS:

Q1:
1. Who waved at each other?
2. Who were trying to get each other's attention?
3. Who gestured towards one another?
Q2:
1. What was Jane waving with?
2. What object did Jane wave?
3. What did Jane use to gesture to Lassiter?
Q3:
1. What was Lassiter waving with?
2. What body part did Lassiter wave with?
3. What did Lassiter use to gesture to Jane?
Q4:
1. What was Venters up to?
2. How was Venters acting?
3. What could Venters be found doing?
Q5:
1. What did Venters hold up?
2. What was in Venters' hand?
3. What did Venters have in his hand?
Q6:
1. Who was in Venters' company?
2. Who did Venters have with him?
3. Who was Venters accompanied by?
Q7:
1. What were the horses called?
2. How were the horses referred to generally?
3. What term was used to refer to the horses?
Q8:
1. What are the specific names of the horses?
2. What are the horses each called?
3. What name does each horse have?
Q9:
1. Who saw something far away?
2. Who spotted a thing in the distance?
3. Who noticed an object in the distance?
Q10:
1. What did Bess see?
2. What was noted by Bess?
3. What had Bess spotted?
Q11:
1. What was the dot in reality?
2. What did it turn out that the small black dot was?
3. What did the black dot transform into as it approached?
Q12:
1. Could the group still see Jane?
2. Did Jane remain in the group's purview as the riders approached?
3. As the riders got closer, could everyone still spot Jane?
Q13:
1. Where had the group gone?
2. Where had the group left for?
3. What was the group's current location?
Q14:
1. How did Venters feel about going into the pass?
2. What were Venters' feelings about going into the pass?
3. How did going into the pass make Venters feel?
