CHAPTER XV
FOLLOWING THE AERIAL TRAIL
Shouting and laughing, the entire party raced down the hill and up theother side to view the result of Lieutenant Wingate's shot. They foundthe buck lying dead where it had fallen, with a bullet hole through itshead.
"Can my Uncle Hip shoot? Well, I reckon he can," declared Stacypompously. "Cleverness runs in our family," boasted Stacy.
"That quality must have exhausted itself before you joined the family,"retorted Emma.
Stacy admitted that he had lost some of it after becoming a member ofthe Overland Riders, which, he said, was undoubtedly due to associationwith inferior intellects, to which Emma had no reply to make, other thancharacteristically elevating her nose and turning her back on the fatboy.
"Come, come," urged Hippy. "Stacy, you and Tom will have to help medress this beast if you want meat. It is certain that we shall notstarve today."
The job of dressing the buck was accomplished clumsily, the Overlandgirls being interested spectators and offering frequent suggestions onthe subject, of which they knew nothing.
That night the Riders enjoyed a great spread. Following it, such of themeat as they wished to carry with them they spitted on sharp sticks inthe smoke of the camp-fire. This was the beginning of the curing processrequired to put the meat in condition to keep, so that they might carryit along, for the party did not dare trust to the chance of findingother game farther on, fearing that they again might be caught foodless.One experience of the kind was enough.
Lieutenant Wingate and his companions had learned a lesson inobservation from the guide, and Hippy began to understand that a hunter,when after game, must put out of his mind every object in the landscapeexcept the particular thing for which he is looking. He tried out thatidea that same day by looking for various objects, one at a time, andwas amazed at the result. Under this method, objects that he had notbefore observed at all now stood out with great prominence. Hippy thenrecalled what an old hunter, then sniping Germans, had told him inFrance: "Let your eyes sweep quickly over the landscape but pay noattention to the more prominent objects, and you will be amazed at thequickness with which you will discover that for which you are looking."
The method worked out just as Hippy's informant had said it would, andHippy determined never again to be caught napping. However, his respectfor the guide had increased considerably, and especially for thekeenness of Woo Smith's eyes.
With all the venison they could carry packed in their kits, the partyset out early on the following morning and soon found themselves on thebrink of another box-canyon, which they reached without mishap, thenmade their way up the side of another mountain, and on over a series ofrugged elevations that would tax the sure-footedness of a mountain goat.
"This up and down progress reminds me of a wild ride that I once had ona scenic railway at Coney Island," declared Elfreda Briggs as theyfinally halted for a rest. Elfreda's face was red from exertion andexcitement, and her hair had become the plaything of the mountainbreezes.
"Don't wolly till to-mollow," chuckled Stacy.
"Stacy, you're right," nodded Tom Gray. "But it is now time we weremoving. See that ridge to the right of us?"
"Surely we do not have to cross that, do we?" begged Emma.
"Yes. We shall have to ride its entire length in order to reach the highmountain peak that you see still farther on. Either we must start now orwait until tomorrow," averred Tom.
"It never will do to be caught on the top of that ridge in thedarkness," agreed Hippy.
The ridge referred to lay slightly higher than their present position,but there was plainly a safe trail leading to it. Orders to move weregiven by Hippy. The Overland Riders were quickly in their saddles, andthe party slowly mounted the ridge, but halted as they came to the topof it. For once the girls experienced a case of "nerves."
"We never shall be able to ride over this awful trail," cried ElfredaBriggs.
"Oh, let's go back," begged Emma.
"Impossible!" answered Hippy. "This is the trail that we shall have tofollow to reach the high peak of the Sierras."
"If the horses behave and no one loses her head we ought to be able tocross safely," averred Grace.
"My head is swimming already," moaned Nora.
"Why don't you turn it over and let it float for a few minutes?"suggested Chunky.
After directing Woo to proceed on ahead, the journey was resumed, andthe ponies stepped out over the knife-edge top of the ridge. This ridge,not more than a dozen feet wide along the top, formed a natural bridgeconnecting two mountain ranges. Here and there the sides of the ridgefell away sheer for hundreds of feet, and at others, smooth graniterocks sloped away to the canyon below.
Ahead of the Riders, Woo Smith was picking his way unconcernedly,singing blithely. The girls of the party sought to look equallyunconcerned, but not with very much success, for each one was feelingthe effect of the great height and their peril on the narrow path. EmmaDean finally slipped from her saddle, and passing the bridle-rein overone arm, proceeded to pick her way on foot.
"Cold feet, eh?" scoffed Stacy.
"No. I'm scared, that's all," replied Emma. "I don't care who knows it,either."
Grace glanced at the faces of her companions, and then, at the rapidlynarrowing trail.
"While I believe that we shall be in less peril on our ponies than onfoot, I suggest that we all walk," she said, dismounting. "With yourfeet on the ground you will be less nervous."
Grace's companions lost no time in following her example, but theydismounted cautiously. It was a relief to feel the solid ground undertheir feet. A laugh further relieved the strain when Hippy Wingatefinally dismounted. The girls teased him unmercifully, though all knewthat a man who had fought the Germans in the clouds was not likely to bedisturbed by great heights. A few moments later Stacy dismounted, butTom remained on his pony and appeared to be enjoying the novelexperience of riding along this unusual aerial trail.
Miss Kitty, the lazy pack-horse, as usual, brought up the rear of theline and was dragging farther and farther behind. Her actions wereobserved with keen interest by the Overlanders, there being no certaintyas to what the white pack mare might or might not do. She proved thewisdom of their lack of confidence in her when, weaving from side toside to avoid stepping over projecting rocks or boulders, she steppedoff the trail with one hind foot.
"Quick, Hippy!" cried Nora excitedly. "She will fall over!"
Lieutenant Wingate sprang forward and gave the mare a quick slap on herflank. The mare jumped, then down she fell on her side with hindquartershanging partly over the brink, and there she lay groaning dismally, thepicture of misery and fear. The faces of the Overland girls paled, foreach knew that the slightest struggle on the part of the white marewould send her sliding to the bottom of the canyon fully a thousand feetbelow.