Girl Scouts in the Rockies Part 23

"Tally, it looks terrifying!" gasped Mrs. Vernon.

"Not so bad as udder ones," remarked Tally.

"Must we go down any of them?" asked Mr. Vernon.

"Mebbe we not find trail for two--four day, and grub mos' gone,"

returned Tally, meaningly.

"We've got to trust to Tally's guidance, pards, so let us do exactly as he thinks best," added Mr. Gilroy.

Feeling somewhat dubious about the outcome of this ride, the two Indians led down the steep sides of the gulch. The horses slipped, stumbled, and scrambled through the piled-up rubbish until it was a marvel that they had not broken legs and necks. The debris carried down by the streams that emptied into the torrents at the bottom of the draw, formed almost impa.s.sable barriers to going onward. But the day was breaking, and this cheered every one tremendously. Soon the darkness would be entirely dispelled and they could see just where the horses were stepping.

"I'm so hungry I could almost eat this leather harness," remarked Anne, sighing.

"Maybe we might catch something for an early breakfast, if we knew where to give our horses a stand while we hunted," said Ruth.

Then, suddenly, they heard a crash of branches and rolling rocks, and there, outlined against the pale sky, stood a giant elk with head erect and ears attentive to the sounds from these riders. It was the first one the scouts had seen, and it was such a magnificent animal that a sight of it was thrilling.

The elk waited with great antlers reared to their extreme height, long sensitive nose sniffing the air, and legs stiffened ready for a leap.

The Captain drew the camera from a side-pocket of the saddle and planned to get a picture. But the wary animal heard the click of the shutter and sprang fully fifteen feet across the chasm to gain a ledge of rock that hung dangerously out.

Every one gasped as he waited to see it miss footing, or roll down with the crag that surely would topple over with such added weight upon it. But the elk must have known its trail, for it lightly touched upon the rock, then vanished over the rim of the top.

"There goes our venison steaks for breakfast!" sighed Julie, making the others laugh in spite of their troubles.

The sides of the canyon near the bottom were filled with dangerous sink-holes, or bogs, that were a constant menace to the riders. For let a horse slip into one of these and he might be sucked down instantly. But the animals were sure-footed and accustomed to such rough traveling, and they instinctively avoided all soft soil. Ever and anon, a horse would slip on a rolling stone, or a hoof would break through rotten timber, so that the scouts were being constantly jolted one side or another.

Finally they found better going along a narrow ledge that looked like an old trail. But it began nowhere and ended--well, it terminated suddenly just ahead of Tally's next step!

"Back! Back!" yelled Tally, dragging on the reins with all his might.

That effectually halted the others, who were so close behind him, and Mr. Vernon leaned over to ask, "What is it, Tally?"

"Big hole--she go down mebbe fifty feet to bottom. Gotta back out and go round nudder way."

"Oh, mercy sakes! Back out all along this narrow ledge?" cried the scouts.

But while they spoke, Jolt pa.s.sed them, going on the verge of the ledge, and causing every one to tremble for his life. When he was pa.s.sing Tally, the guide shouted angrily, "Whoa! Whoa!"

But Jolt acted exactly like a sleep-walker does. He paid no attention to sight or sound, and in another moment he would have walked right over the edge of the precipice, had not Tally jumped from his saddle and caught hold of the guide rope that had been tied to his halter before entering the gully.

This slight hold, however, did not save the mule from disappearing over the verge of the cliff, and it almost yanked Tally over, too. The only thing that saved the guide was Omney, who jumped to a.s.sist his friend when Jolt went by. The rope was instantly wound about a tree stump and braced. Then Tally climbed warily to safety, before the loose shale should crumble in with his weight.

Every one had been speechless with horror a moment before, but now every one spoke with loosened tongue.

"The mule had all the food-stuffs," said Anne.

"And the camp outfit as well," added Mr. Vernon.

"Just think of the poor thing--down there crushed to bits," wept Betty.

Some felt sorry for Jolt, and some felt sorry for themselves. Then Tally said, "Eef light scout crawl ober an' tell what her see Jolt doin', mebbe we save him."

Betty was the lightest so she offered her services. She was tied securely to one of the ropes that hung on the saddle-horn, and Tally advised her what to do.

"Crawl to edge, look down. Tell what Jolt do, or eef he mashed in bottom!"

So Betty crept slowly over the shale and reached the edge of the ravine. She peered down, and the sunlight that shone through the trees just then, helped her to see plainly.

"Jolt's standing on a wide ledge of rock about twenty feet lower than this one. His packs are gone--guess they tumbled down when the straps burst open. But there isn't any _spare_ room for him to exercise on,"

reported Betty.

"Did you say he was standing upon his feet?" asked Mr. Gilroy, unbelievingly.

"Yes, with his head facing towards the outlet of this chasm. He hears me talking, 'cause I see him p.r.i.c.k up his long ears."

"Al' light," said Tally, joyfully. "Tell me, do ledge end in hole like dis-a-one do?"

"No, it looks as if it ran right down to the valley, Tally. I can see the sunlight down at the end, about a mile away."

That caused great joy in each heart, and Tally said, "Al'light, now come back."

So the scout crawled back, while Tally spoke with Omney and planned what to do. The result of this conversation was then apparent.

Tally tied a long rope to his own waist, and Omney began paying out the rope as the Indian went over the edge of the gulch. Every one held his breath to wait developments. Then they heard Tally shout, "Al'light--le' go."

"Now us back out--Tally ride Jolt down valley," announced Omney.

"O Hominy! Do you think the mule is all right?" cried Ruth.

"Tally say so. Us go back now." So back they went in every sense of the word--back along the ledge, and backwards all the way.

The horses climbed the rocky slope and went along the top-side of the chasm, but it was no better adapted for comfortable riding than the bottom had been. After an hour of dreadful jumps and jolts and slips, the riders came out to the valley that Betty had spoken of, at the end of the draw.

There stood Tally, grinning with good news. "Fine camp!"

"But where is Jolt?" demanded the scouts.

"Him dockered up wid bear-grease, bandages, an' herb!' laughed Tally, pointing to a place where they could see a mule taking things easy on the gra.s.s.

"Got packs out, Tally?" asked Omney.

"Us go in get 'em now, Omney. Scouts make camp an' we come back wid grub, pooty soon."

So the two guides rode in through the chasm again, along the bottom beside the river, and the scouts rode on to make camp where Tally had directed them.

There the scouts found one of the most interesting shelters of all on that camping-trip. It was discovered under the wide overspreading boughs of a clump of firs which had so grown that a perfectly clear and covered area in the center provided a Nature-made house.

While Ruth and Betty were ordered to clean up the sticks and stones on the ground under the trees, the other girls gathered balsam and made the beds. The two men went to fish, and the Captain built a good fire to cook the combination breakfast and dinner, as it was now long past noon.