Jack the Young Explorer

ied to the trees. As soon as breakfast was over the packing began and fortunately was soon comp

narrow strip of cottonwood timber, plunged down into the bed of the creek, and then up on the other side and in a few moments reached t

e and there with young pine trees. Jack had no idea as to where they should go, but Hugh's more practiced eye made out a dim game trail, which he followed for some distance through the timber, and which at last came out on the slide rock, fallen from the side of the mountain far above. Here there was a plain trail made in times past by the mountain bison and the elk which passed up and down from the

saw three white goats feeding two or three hundred yards above them. Involuntarily he checked his horses, intending to take a shot at them, but seein

several times, usually merely white dots on the high rocks. These alpine animals seem to suffer g

ning far back into the mountains, where they could see great fields of snow and ice. Then t

nd falls, and once, through the open stems of some tall aspens, Jack thought he saw spray rising from a cata

gh tangled brush, interrupted now and then by deep muddy holes, where springs or small brooklets came down from the hillsides above them. The mosquitoes and flies were very bad, and each member of the party wore glove

s, and Joe was trying to hold the other horses to keep them from breaking away, when, suddenly, on the hillside above, they heard a crashing of sticks and, looking up, saw a huge black moose trotting along, crossing fallen logs and rocks in

sn't he, son?" said Hu

since we came down from the Yellowstone P

and I remember, too, that we

d," assen

d the lash rope, "let's go on. T

e above. About three o'clock they reached a large stream coming from the right, which evidently joined the river that they had been followin

de a crossing in water no deeper than to the horses' knees. Not far above this stream was a wide alder swamp, which gave them much trouble. A little farther on they came to a small stream flowing down the valley, along which ran an old game trail, and following this

"this is a curious place, isn'

ou can't see far. I don't wonder that my pe

orses, Hugh?" asked Jack. "T

until it gets dark. They are pretty tired, and the feed is fairly go

ntains. Snow lay everywhere on their crests, and even in the valley, down to wi

s opinion where they were

can get up here to the left by climbing that point of rocks. When we do that we'll get into the snow banks right off, and I don't know that there's much profit for us in that.

ses had been picketed where they could feed and yet would not interfere with each othe

hat valley and from the big snow, and I reckon we lost it by keeping away to the right. It's a good thing that we didn't have to cross it, for if we

oes into the lakes, does

, "that's the onl

through a lot of brush than try to g

nd being carried down. My horse got scared and commenced to flounder and I rolled off to help. It was in winter, and I had an old-fashioned army overcoat on and got kind of rolled up in it, and I r

n a close call, Whi

t was close enough. I do

n over here? If we do we'll go up pretty near to the head of that big r

may find a place up there where we can camp. I don't feel any way sure that we'll find a place where we can get feed for the horses. We'll know more about that when we get up there.

f the species, and felt sure that the birds must be breeding somewhere about. Looking at them a second time, however, he saw that both birds were males. They made him think of the time of the year, and he real

uld see no game high up on the mountain, but just as he was about to turn from the shore, he happened to look up the lake and there, lying in a sort of cave in the rocks, only a shor

w weeks and then you won't be so anxious to kill things, unless you need to. I have seen that every time you go back East y

ck. "It does seem pretty silly to w

skin pants, kill what hides you need and have your clothing made, or if you need food, kill what you want to eat, but don't shoot at things j

hat there is up above us here. We don't even know that we can climb this hill. Now, what do you say to leaving the pack horses here and taking the saddle h

don't want to pack up and take a train up there and then find

bears up here, and likely bears that haven't been hunted much. I believe that it would be a good idea for us to hoist up the main part of our grub into one of these trees and tie it there, so th

ted with a couple of large bundles. Then they saddled and Jack said to Joe, "If any bears sh

said Joe. "We ought

half a dozen strong picket pins, then going out to where the horses were, they drove a second pin close to

und these two pins with the lariat and

h found a game trail and followed it, for he knew, as all mountain men do, that game always selects the easiest road across natural obstacles. The climb was neither steep nor long, though it was a little slippery, for the upper end of the trail was wet with snow that had just melted. When

we can go and what we can find. We could not take the horses along the mountainside to the west. If we go that way we'll

over to those pine trees on the other side. It looks as if there might b

then,"

above that successive walls of vertical cliff, in each recess and crevice of which there was a drift of snow. To the left, the snow field sloped gradually to an almost flat surface of rock, over which fl

e East in the early spring, others looked something like dandelions, but had tall, straight stems; still others were like the columbine of early summer, but instead of being red wer

ar them, Jack recognized as moraines-the soil and gravel pushed to one side by the progress of a glacier. He felt sure that this valley along which they were traveling, and perhaps also the narrow valley in which lay the river and th

off ahead of them and alighting on a rock, stood with head and tail up, still uttering a sharp cry. Jack recognized it at once as a ptarmigan and reached for his rifle to see whether he could kill it, but Hugh, who had looked ar

kill everything that I see. I'm a regular pilgrim about th

ngs and sweet chirping whistles, and suddenly a large flock of gray-crowned finches alighted on the ground and on the stones about him. They walked busily hither and thither picking up something, though he could not see what, and it seemed impossible that there could be seeds or any other vegetable food on the bare rocks. The birds were absolutely tame and paid no attention to the animals,

ross the stream, which, though wide and turbulent, was not deep. On the east side the land rose sharply in one or two

over the valley, and when they did so, Hugh said, "W

ry small ones. They were working along the hillside, apparently looking for insects, for the largest was busily employed in turning over stones, and the little ones were imitating her in

r there and of course, if we had known they were there, it would be easy enough to get them all as we came along. I don't really know that we need them, except that I suppose we'd all be glad to take i

ck, "oughtn't we to have s

ut as we weren't hunting, we just rode along and, of course, those shelves of rock that you see there hid the bears from us just as they hid us from

ow for us to do anything. Let's see

n the other side of the little stream, though the ground was bare and some flowers were springing, there was no grass, nor indeed, whereve

camp, Jack," said Joe, "but I don't s

a day or two, but no more. We'd be a lot better off if we were camped over here; that is, provided we wanted to hunt here or climb the mountains, but we've got to have grass for our horse

m to be any feed here, and I don't se

ere may be some sheltered warm spot up there where the snow will

eaks. Here the snow was disappearing and, as they ascended, they presently found the ground bare, but as Hugh had said, the grass had not yet started. There were a few tufts of brown dried-up herbage, but nothing that could be called feed, even for so small a pack train as

sn't time to kill them now and we'll have to be satisfied with a y

not," sa

to Jack a porcupine waddling slowly over the snow. "There is some game for you, son, if you want it," he said, "but I wouldn't waste a cartridge on it. If you want to kill it, knock it

erected its quills in all directions, and stood there thrashing with its great tail as if quite prepared for war. Jack gave it a poke or two and then

ren't you going to ta

f food in camp and this time I'll keep myself

road, the air was cold, and the melting of the snow field had stopped. Here in these high mounta

s earlier in the day, Jack and Joe dismounted and went to look down in the val

to and fro, apparently trying to pull up their picket pins; but what first attracted the attention of the men was the appearance of their te

el prairie. Jack and Joe, though both suspecting what had taken place, said nothing, but followed, and when they had crossed the little river and rode over the level meadow toward camp, Hugh was sitting on his horse by the tent, with as broa

one of the funniest things I ever saw. Do you

on't know, but I gues

have to bloody up the tent a little to get him o

s rifle, while Joe called out, "White B

unted pine trees, were two little cubs, each about as large as

e down here to make us grief. Jack, you kill the old one in the tent,

Hugh and Joe shot the cubs in the trees. The tent was unrolled and the old bear extracted from it. It was evident that she had entered it to investigate its contents and in overhauling things had knocked down the poles. Her struggles h

inning the bears, and stretching their hides; and many were