John Henry Goldfrap

“ When they left the main body of the party behind, Ralph, Harry Ware, and young Simmons had kicked their ponies into a brisk “lope,” which speedily carried them some distance ahead. As they rode along, they gazed admiringly about them at the beauties of the rugged trail. The rough way soon left the tunnel-like formation of spruce and tamarack, and emerged on a muskeg, or patch of swampy ground, where rank, green reeds and flowers of gorgeous red, yellow and blue grew in the wetter places. ”

“ On each side towered rocky scraps of cliff clothed with dark pines and balsams.
Boys and men broke into a cheer, and even the dispirited ponies fell into a brisk gait without urging. The travelers forgot their trials as they laved in the fresh, cold water of the mountain stream and watched Jim getting supper, assisted by Jimmie, while the ponies ravenously cropped the fresh, juicy grass. ”

“ From a patch of blueberries just ahead of them, where he had evidently been feeding, a great brown form arose on its hind legs and stood looking at them.
“A g-g-g-g-grizzly!” yelled Hardware, quite forgetting his rifle that was slung over his back by a bandolier.
“Run! Run for your life!” shouted Persimmons, equally forgetful of his weapon, which, in order to lead White-eye, he had been compelled to sling over his shoulders in a similar way.
The bear dropped on all fours and began coming toward them without undue haste, but with a sort of deadly deliberation. ”

“ As they rode down the shaly mountain side, their ponies slipping and sliding and scrambling desperately to keep a footing, there came a low, distant rumble of thunder. The sky to the northwest turned from black to a sort of purplish green. Through this ugly cloud blanket a shaft of lightning zipped with a livid glare. The thunder rolled and rumbled among the mountains, reminding Ralph of Rip Van Winkle’s experiences in the far-off Catskills. ”

“ The question was certainly a natural one. Besides the tiny station, no human habitation was in sight. Above it, threatening to crush it seemingly, towered a precipice of dark colored rock. Beyond this rose mighty pines, cliffs, waterfalls and, finally, climbing fields of snow. Everywhere peaks and summits loomed with a solitary eagle wheeling far above. In the air was the thunderous voice of the torrent as it tumbled along under the spidery trestle beyond the station, and the sweet, clean fragrance of the pines.
“What’m I doin’ at Pine Pass?” ”

“ The going was much the same as Ralph was already getting accustomed to in that rugged, little-traveled country. Rocks, fallen trees and deep crevasses crossed their paths in every direction, causing frequent detours.
Hour after hour they traveled through this sort of country, making but slow progress. At noon they stopped for a bite of lunch, and tethering the ponies in some scant grass which grew in a rocky clearing, they seated themselves on a log for their meal. Their canteens of water came in refreshingly, for they had not passed any streams or springs. ”

“ The day following the night on which Ralph had seen, or thought he had seen, the figure of the watching man, they encountered, for the first time, a tract of country common enough in the Canadian wilds but particularly unpleasant to travel through, namely, a brulee or vast tract of woods through which a forest fire has swept, leaving desolation in its path.
Nothing more depressing can be imagined than these burned forests. ”

“ Ralph’s first act on wakening the next morning was to pull open the flap of the tent and gaze out. His next was to utter a shout of surprise. Of the ponies which had been turned out to graze the evening before, not a sign was to be seen. As usual, they had been driven out with old Baldy, the leader of the pack horses, as the “bell” pony. Like most ponies in the wilds, they had hitherto stuck closely to Baldy who, for his part, was usually quite content to remain around camp so long as the grazing was good. ”

“ He knew only too well that to the tyro at big game shooting any large animal appears about twice as large and ferocious as it really is. Many lives have been lost and many painful and disfiguring wounds carried to the grave because a man’s nerve has failed him at the critical moment when hunting dangerous game.
“You’re only shootin’ at a mark, boy! That’s all! Hold on ’em now! Hold on ’em!”
Jim’s voice steadied Ralph’s nerves wonderfully. He glanced down the rifle barrel and then, as his finger pressed the trigger the report roared and crashed through the valley. ”

“ Unlike the country Ralph had struck, Hardware and his companion found themselves, on the summit of the ridge, in a forest of white birch and shady green timber, amidst which the sunlight filtered down cheerfully. Passing through this they emerged on a rocky hillside thickly grown with “scotch-caps,” or sackatoons, Rocky Mountain blueberries and snake berries, while under foot was a carpet of red heather. ”

“ He had no time for more. With a growl and snarl the tawny body was launched into the air, as if propelled toward him by chilled steel springs. Ralph gave a hasty, almost involuntary step backward. His foot caught in an out-cropping root and the next instant he measured his length on the ground.
As he fell he was conscious of a flash passing [62] before his face and caught a glimpse of two yellow eyes blazing with deadly hate and anger. The next instant there was a crash in the brush just beyond where he lay, and the boy realized that his fall had been the luckiest thing in the world for him. ”

“ Ralph gazed on with fascinated horror. The scene was unreal, fantastic almost. The three Indians, an instant before bent on thievery, were now fighting for their lives against two creatures urged to fury by the most powerful motive known to the animal kingdom—the love of their young.
“Cheysoyo tamya!” cried the one with the eagle feather, and, urging their ponies to mad flight, the Indians made off at top speed. The lions made two or three bounds after them, but then stopped to listen to the appealing cries of the cubs inside the cave. ”

“ Suddenly the mighty trunk rushed earthward. [92] Simultaneously Ralph’s hand fell on Hardware’s bridle. He gave a tug that brought the latter’s pony up on its haunches. It reared wildly, almost toppling backward.
At the same instant a cold wind fanned both boys as the trunk swept down. There was a deafening crash almost under the feet of the plunging ponies, and both lads were shrouded in a cloud of black dust that rose up like a dark veil.
“Good heavens! They’re killed!” shouted the professor dashing forward. ”

“ But even the most determined will cannot always overcome material obstacles. A chunk of driftwood was swept against Ralph’s feet. He was almost overbalanced by the force of the blow. The watchers on shore saw him strive wildly for an instant to recover his equilibrium, and then a cry of alarm broke from their lips as they saw the boy suddenly lose his balance completely and topple off the trunk into the stream.
“The rope! Haul on the rope!” shouted the professor, as Ralph vanished, to reappear an instant later fighting for his life in the relentless torrent. ”

“ In the downpour the mountaineer and the boy made the terrified ponies fast, and then made a dash for the dark mouth of the cave. It appeared to be little more [191] than a recess formed by the piling of a mass of huge rocks one on top of another, reminding one of a giant’s game of blocks. Had the professor been there, he would have ascribed the presence of the Titanic rock pile to glacial action; but to Mountain Jim and Ralph, the place stood for nothing more than a welcome means of shelter. ”

“ Suddenly there came a rumbling sound which quickly changed to a roar like that of a locomotive blowing off steam, and from the center of the clearing there shot up a clear stream of steaming water. But in a flash its purity was sullied and it turned a dark muddy color. The rumbling increased in violence and a miniature geyser of mud and steaming hot water was shot upward to a considerable height.
Ralph made a swift dash for the shelter of a Douglas fir and looked on curiously while the convulsion of nature lasted. Then he ventured out to examine the geyser more closely. ”

“ Evidently, too, his adjurations had their effect on the jaded ponies, for they stumbled bravely on leaping logs and dodging stones with renewed agility every time the guide’s voice boomed through that blackened, fire-swept wilderness.
Ralph had fallen into a semi-doze. The deadly [89] monotony of the half-calcined columns on every hand, the close heat of the brulee made him drowsy. The voice of Mountain Jim fell more and more faintly on his ears. Harry Ware, kicking his pony viciously, passed him. ”

“ As for Topsy, apparently not feeling the weight of the heavy pack at all, she dashed on like a lightning express. Ralph was sorry that the chase was not among the trees, for in the timber Topsy would have found it hard to get along so quickly with the encumbering pack on her back. But up the rocky ledge, which zig-zagged like a trail up the mountain, she fairly flew. The noise of her speeding hoofs was like that of castanets.
“Well, a stern chase is always a long one, [252] ” thought Ralph, as he shook a kink out of his rope and spurred after her as fast as his pony was capable of going. ”

“ Mushing, as they call traveling in the Yukon, is slow work on a broken trail, and that one from the shack to White Lake was about as bad a specimen as I ever traveled over. But Nevins didn’t seem to mind it. He was so eager to get back to civilization—as if you could call White Lake civilization—that he was always ahead of me. But I didn’t like his gait. It was awkward, zig-zaggy, not the trail of a man who is sure of himself. Nevins was living on his nerves. I caught myself praying they didn’t explode before we reached White Lake! ”

“ No birds or animals could be seen or heard. On every side was nothing but black desolation.
Ralph and young Ware rode ahead, side by side, while behind straggled the rest of the party. Mountain Jim brought up the rear behind the pack animals, which needed urging with whip and voice through the desolation of the brulee. Now and then, far off, they could hear the crash of some forest giant as its burned-through trunk gave way and it came smashing to the ground [86] with a roar like thunder, not infrequently bringing two or three of its mates with it. ”

“ All looked up with interest, for travelers were few in that wild part of the Rockies. Their curiosity was not long in being gratified.
Through the trees came riding a stalwart figure on a big bay horse. The newcomer was clean shaven, bronzed and capable looking. He wore a big sombrero, riding boots, and trousers with a stripe down the sides. His appearance, for he carried a carbine in a holster and pistols in his belt, was somewhat alarming to the boys, who exchanged hurried whispers. ”

“ Our travelers found themselves on the outskirts of such a place some time before noon on the day mentioned. Mountain Jim had at first thought of making a detour up a mountain side, but after a consultation it was decided to press on through the desolate waste, where charred trunks stuck up like the blackened stumps of teeth in an old man’s jaws.
As they plunged into the brulee they found their ponies sinking over the fetlocks in the ashes. ”

“ Jim had warned the boys and the professor to be on the lookout for such things, and as Ralph and Harry Ware rode along they kept a bright and vigilant watch for any tree that looked as if its fall was imminent.
“Gee whiz! I feel like an ant that has lost its way in the ashes of a camper’s fire,” was the graphic way in which Hardware expressed his feelings, as for the twentieth time that morning he tried to clear his throat of ashes. ”

“ It emitted a sharp crack, almost like a pistol shot, and Ralph bit his lip with vexation.
“That cat’s going to run now, taking its prey along, and I’ll not get within a mile of it,” was his thought.
But no such thing happened. Instead, from the bushes, there came an angry, snarling growl as the crunching of bones abruptly ceased. Ralph’s heart began to beat a little quicker. It appeared that the cat, far from fleeing, was going to show fight. But Ralph, after his first surprise, did not worry: He knew his automatic would be more than a match for the wild cat if it came down to a fight. ”

“ For a flash he saw her as she turned a shoulder of rock, and then she vanished again as the trail turned inward toward the cliff face. Ralph had only a second in which to act.
He glanced about him. It appeared impossible that two ponies could pass on the narrow trail. Yet he would have to let Topsy get by or else be backed off into the depths below. In emergencies such as the boy now faced, the mind usually rises to the occasion and works with the rapidity necessary [255] to dictate quick action. It was so in Ralph’s case. ”

“ Jimmie was such a straw, and his self-confident manner formed to a not small degree the basis of their trust in his ability to carry out what he said he could accomplish. Carefully the rope was transferred from the dripping, half-frozen Ralph to Jimmie’s waist. This done, the lad carefully balanced a longish branch he had picked up, and appeared to find it suitable for use as a balancing pole; for, after one or two trials, he stepped out on the log and began such a “rope walking” act as has seldom if ever been witnessed. ”

“ Brave, resourceful, and skillful, as their former experiences had trained them to be, the boys found full scope for all their faculties with the Rangers. A band of cattle thieves made trouble for them, and Jack Merrill’s climb out of the Hidden Valley furnished the most thrilling experience of his life.
Dearly would Ralph have loved to share with his former companions the exciting times which he was sure lay ahead of him in the Canadian Rockies. ”

“ Hardware and Persimmons followed his example. The eyes of all three boys were shining with the excitement of this, their first adventure in the Canadian wilds.
“Cantering cayuses, boys, but we’ll have a fine [57] skin to take home before we’ve been on the trail ten minutes!” exclaimed Persimmons under his breath, as they crept along behind Ralph.
“Don’t count your skins before you get ’em,” was Hardware’s advice.
At this moment there was a sudden commotion among the ponies. They snorted and sniffed as if in terror of something, and Ralph rightly guessed that they had just scented the wild cat. ”

“ I’m hungry as one of those lions that tried to gobble up Ralph,” declared Persimmons, who always had, as may have been noticed, an excellent appetite.
“Don’t be thinking of lunch yet,” admonished Jim. “You’re a fine bunch of hunters. The first thing we want to do is to get a crack at those goats, ain’t it? If we don’t keep on, they will.” ”

“ Over and over he sang it, while the shod hoofs clattered out a metallic accompaniment to the droning air.
“Can we ride ahead a bit?” asked Ralph after a while, for the monotony of keeping pace with the pack animals and the constant repetition of Mountain Jim’s song began to grow wearisome.
“Sure; go ahead. You can’t get lost. The trail runs straight ahead. The only way to get off it is to fall off,” said Jim cheerfully, drawing out and filling with black tobacco a villainous-looking old pipe. ”

“ While they still gazed at the moving objects on the snow-capped ridge, Mountain Jim suddenly uttered a sharp exclamation.
“Look close now,” said he, “for you’ll see something worth looking at in a minute or two, or I miss my guess.” ”