Chapter 1 Lieutenant Dunbar wasn't really swallowed. But that was the first word that stuck in his head. Everything was immense. The great, cloudless sky. The rolling ocean of grass. Nothing else, no matter where he put his eyes. No road. No trace of ruts for the big wagon to follow.

Just sheer, empty space. He was adrift. It made his heart jump in a strange and profound way. As he sat on the flat, open seat, letting his body roll along with the prairie, Lieutenant Dunbar's thoughts focused on his jumping heart. He was thrilled. And yet, his blood wasn't racing. His blood was quiet. The confusion of this kept his mind working in a delightful way.

Words turned constantly in his head as he tried to conjure sentences or phrases that would describe what he felt. It was hard to pinpoint. On their third day out the voice in his head spoke the words "This is religious," and that sentence seemed the rightest yet. But Lieutenant Dunbar had never been a religious man, so even though the sentence seemed right, he didn't quite know what to make of it. lf he hadn't been so carried away, Lieutenant Dunbar probably would have come up with the explanation, but in his reverie, he jumped right over it.