Jack the Young Explorer

form, looking for Hugh, and in a moment he recognized the tall form, standing

cally; but he had to jump down to the platform and elbow

to see you. I only got here last night myself, but it's been a long day waiting

ed to keep you, and that I should have to do the waiting. It's all right now though, and I hope we can get off t

your bed, and I see your gun and bag in your hand. I've got a room at the Merchants' Hotel,

k those up to the hotel, and then I'll put the stuff I need in my bed

while we ride inside. It isn't much of a walk up to the hotel, only about a mile, but maybe we'd better get ther

he railroad. As they passed along, Jack saw, to the right, enormous piles of cobblestones extending for half a m

old, a man comes down here now and works over some of that gravel, and they say that to-day there's fair wages to be made mining right here in the town. I've heard that there are some Chinamen that work these gravels right along. There's a heap of gold been

ens in lots of places along the Rocky Mountains, because a great m

ots of gold left in the sides of these hills yet

e coming up, Hugh?" asked Jack.

n, and that little narrow gauge road up to Garrisons, and then came east on the main line. I was kind of scared that maybe I'd get lost, making so many changes; but everybody I met was mi

ter the hack stopped in front of the Merchants' Hotel. Jack got a room

ew things that he needed for his trip, and then he and Hugh sallied out and took a long walk out o

ice and arranged for two seats on the box

w morning except you two, still I'll put your names down for the two seats on the box if you like. It can't do no harm, anyhow. You h

rted out again and walked through the brilliantly lighted streets, looking in at the windows of shops and saloons, each of wh

people sitting at tables playing cards, while toward the back of the room was a lon

oing in there, H

o law against gambling in most of these Montana towns, the way I hear there

, Hugh. Can't we go in and look on?

ay see something that will teach you a good lesson. I never was much on gambling myself. I never had much money to lose, and I never wanted to win anybody el

. Hugh walked around to one end of the long table and gradually edged his way into the crowd, gently pushing men this way and that in so good-natured a fashion that no one objected to it

, and blue. The players placed these disks on the cards, and then when two cards came out of the box, sometimes the dealer took over to his side of the table the chips that were on a particular card, or else put on that card as many more chips as were already on it. Then the player usually removed these chips and put some or all of them on another card. Most of the people about the table appeared to be acquainted with

grew thicker, and there was the sound of more or less hum and bustle. Presently Jack felt a hand on his shoulder, and looking

en came in that were full of liquor, and it looks to me as if there might be trouble in there

It's about the last place in which I

now as I'd mind about being killed if I had to be killed,

t thing going on in t

rom what I hear that there must be twenty-five or thirty places like

k, "do men lose

afford, even if the game is straight. There's quite a percentage in

gh?" said Jack. "Do

he cards just about the way they want them, so that they know just what card is coming out next, and if they see the be

should think they wou

er's, and the dealer is apt to have two or three friends around the table who will talk for him. If the wors

shoot, Hugh

ugh generally the dealer can bluff it out, especially if

ck, "that seems

but that's the way it is in

lashed on to the rack behind the stage and the bags thrown into the boot under the driver's seat. A little later the four horses were brought out and hitched to the vehicle, and presently the driver, carrying his long whip, came from the office. The stage was led out into the street before th

he sort of stage that they us

fore the railroad was built, but stage-driving is pretty near over now and the old stages are laid on the shelf. Usually for these

of the seats the roof of the coach was strengthened with slats of wood running lengthwise, and all about this

around the village to gather passengers for the train in the morning, and it takes away the passengers that come by the train and leaves them at their ho

enty-four hours he is generally in the frame of mind where he is willing to fight with his best friend. Y

ded that it would take in the neighborhood of twenty-four hours to get to Benton. "Of course," he remarked, "we could go faster if there was any reason for it. We change teams about ever

riding on a stage, but I don't know j

d were entering a wide valley of the mountains, which gradually closed in on them unti

d the stream with his whip. "And this here canyon tha

ith clumps of small pines and spruces, at others, in a sheer rocky precipice, or yet again in s

e hills?" asked H

, too. Not many people travel over these hills, except prosp

ng the hillside ahead of the team, suddenly graspe

As they drew nearer, the animal heard the trotting of the horses or the rattle of the coach and stood for a few moments looking innocently at the team as it approached. The deer was a young buck, his horns, of course, in

ose to him, the driver said, "Do eith

," sai

," sai

some time to butcher him, and I don't like to loaf much just after

anger in this great object approaching him, and turning, he bounded lightly a

hat is what a deer depends on, isn't it? He doesn't trust his

o me, and likely thought I was a stump or a rock, but just as soon as they passed along near enough to catch the wind of me they never stopped to look or listen, but got up and dusted the best they knew

rue; but you mustn't say that it's only deer

h, "that's righ

ight plain, he wouldn't be sure it was me until he had come up behind me and stuck the end of his nose against my leg so that he could smell me. I remember once standing with three or four men in front of the Bella saloon in Benton when my dog did a trick like that. One of the men I was talking to didn't like dogs; in fact, he was awful scared of them. The dog came up to us a

ing, and yet maybe all the time they've got good san

en that would run a mile to get away from some little bug like a spider or a hornet, and yet I know those men weren't cowards, because I've s

imed the st

an over his face, just after he had gone to bed, he got up a

ake him sick if there was one in the room, even though he didn't see it and didn't know that it was

Hugh, "I rec

kes. It didn't make any difference whether they were venomous snakes

es, and, what's more, he could tell if there was one around, whethe

fact," remark

rses were to be changed. There all hands got down and walked about a little to stretch their legs;

ith road agents on this lin

must have got out somehow, for that night, just as the stage reached the top of the Bird Tail Divide and the two leaders had got up onto the level, two men stepped out in the moonlight and told Buck-that's my partner-to stop. He started to lay the whip on his horses, but they were all walking, and the men brought down their guns and called to him again that if he started they'd kill the leaders. So he pulled up and asked the men what

r known who

le fellow was that searched the stage, but as they didn't get anything a

so that the teams were always fresh and progress rapid. They had dinner and supper at

were tired and sleepy, but the

oked his pipe, and Jack, trying to get the sleep out of his eyes, walked up and down on the

id the little man, as he

not now. I'm just

n me ranch down below here and I'd like to hire yez. Thirty dollars a

ut I'm just traveling through the country and I've got to meet

ye'd be needin' work, and ye'd better come to my place and see if I can't g

is offer, and when they star

be a man now, and ought to be able to

irie, and soon after the sun rose the next morning trotted swi