CHAPTER XIII
THE FORKS OF SWIFT CURRENT
Daylight was slow in breaking the next morning, and when the earliestriser came out of the tent he saw that the valley was filled with mistwhich hid the mountain peaks. It was fairly cold, and all hands wereglad to wear their coats.
Hugh kindled the fire and began to get breakfast, while the boys wentout and turned loose the picketed horses, finding all the animalstogether.
"No mosquitoes this morning, Jack," said Joe, as they walked back tocamp.
"No, indeed," replied Jack. "Any mosquito that came out this morningwould be likely to have his wings and beak frozen off. My, but it'scold!" and he crowded close to the fire, stretching out his stiff wethands to try to get some warmth into them.
"Yes," said Hugh, "it's pretty cold up here in the mountains. Ten milesdown the creek, on the prairie, I bet the sun is shining hot."
"Isn't it queer what a difference there is between the mountains and theprairie?" said Jack.
"Yes," said Hugh, "there's lots of difference, but this place up here isthe coldest, stormiest country that I know anything about. It seems tome that all these blizzards that we hear about that sweep over EasternMontana and Dakota and so on, toward the States, get their start rightup here. I've been right on top of the mountains along here where theweather would be warm and fine as could be, but a little way down on theeastern slope it would be raining and blowing like fury, and how far thewind and storm reached, I never could find out. Of course, there arelots of bad storms that start up here that never do get as far as theprairie, but there are lots of others that get such a start here thatthey keep going until they get a long way east.
"Well," Hugh went on, "the grub is about ready and we may as well sitdown and eat. I believe this fog is going to lift in a while and we cankeep on up the valley and see how far we can go before the mountainsstop us. By rights, we ought to wait here until the sun comes out anddries off the ropes and blankets, but I don't believe we've got muchfurther to go, not more than six or seven miles anyhow, before we'lleither get to the foot of the mountains or well up on them."
A little while after breakfast the fog seemed to be growing thin and,presently, the sun broke through. From that time the mist graduallydisappeared, but before it had wholly vanished from the mountainsides,the packs were on the horses and the train was stringing out up thetrail. There was a short, steep climb about opposite the falls, whereJack had tried to fish the day before, and then a stretch of level land,the trail passing through scattered timber close to the shores of arather large lake. When they had reached the upper end of this, Hughstopped, and, turning to Jack, said, "Now, which way do you want to go?This valley seems to have three forks, one short one in the middle, anda longer one on either side. The short one is right ahead of us and theeasiest, but the longest one is up here, to the right. If we want tofind out what there is here, we may as well take them in order."
"Then," said Jack, "what's the matter with taking the right-hand onefirst? What do you think, Joe?"
Joe signified that he was doubtful which to take, and as he, apparently,didn't care much, Hugh said, "Well, come on then, we'll see if we canfind some sort of a trail through the timber up here to the right."
A dim trail, which seemed to Jack like a disused game trail, led throughthe timber and the road was fairly easy. Before they had gone far, bothboys could see that people had traveled up it in previous years, for ina number of places the bark was knocked from the trees, where packs hadhit against them and, in one or two places, they saw a thread of red orwhite worsted clinging to a tree in a narrow place in the trail, showingwhere a rider's leg had rubbed against the bark and a shred had beentorn from his leggings or blanket. Once or twice they saw a tuft of goathair caught on a branch.
For some hours they wound through the forest, but at length the treesgrew smaller and they passed through some open timber into a littlepark.
The mountains rose high on every side, but there was plenty of grass, agood-sized stream, and abundant wood. At the head of the park, twostreams came from narrow valleys, one to the west and one to the east,and immediately before the travelers rose a very sharp mountain slope,terminating in a long high wall or precipice crowned by jaggedfinger-like rocks.
"Well," said Hugh, as they got to the upper end of the park, "I reckonwe've got to stop here. Of course, it may be that we could take thehorses higher up, but I don't feel any way sure about it and, if weshould take them, we'd probably find the ground covered with snow. Let'smake camp, and tie up the pack horses, and then we'll ride farther onand see what there is. It looks to me like there ought to be lots ofsheep and goats up here, and we may as well find out."
It was nearly noon before the packs were off and the tent up, and thenit was time to cook and eat, so that it was one o'clock before theymounted again and rode off. Hugh followed the westerly branch of thestream and, after a little search, found a game trail which led up thesteep bank and brought them to the level of the valley, above theforty-foot precipice over which the stream poured. Here the ground waslevel and timber-covered, but they soon came out on rolling land whichrose steadily toward the mountain and was dotted with clumps of trees.
The stream, which they had been following, came from a beautiful lake ofclear, green water, in which two or three harlequin ducks were swimming,among little fragments of ice floating in the water.
The three travelers dismounted and, sitting down beneath a pine tree,looked over the lake and scanned the rocks above it.
Presently Hugh said, "Boys, do you want to see some goats?"
"Yes," replied Jack, "I've been looking for them, but I don't see any."
"Well," said Hugh, "I'll tell you why. You're looking too high up in theair. Look down here in the valley, just below the edge of the snow, andsee what you can see."
The boys looked, and there, to their astonishment, saw several herds ofgoats feeding on the young grass that grew on the slopes of themountains.
"Plenty of goats," said Joe.
"You bet, they're plenty," agreed Jack. "Let's count them." They did soand found that there were no less than forty-three goats in sight andnone of them at a level higher than they were.
"Quite a show, isn't it?" said Hugh. "I don't remember that I ever sawso many goats at one view, as we're looking at now. It wouldn't be muchof a trick to get goat meat here, if we wanted it."
"No," answered Jack, "I should think not, but, as you say, we don't wantit particularly. I'd rather have some sheep or even an elk. I expectthere are some elk here, aren't there? I saw some sign of them, as Ithought, coming up."
"Yes," said Hugh, "I reckon there are elk here; not very many, but some.Maybe we can get to kill one before long."
It was pleasant sitting there in the sun and watching the feeding goats,unsuspicious of danger. Suddenly, however, there was a movement in thegroup nearest the head of the valley and the animals began to walkquickly toward the heights and were soon climbing up over the snowbanks.
"There!" exclaimed Hugh, "I reckon some eddy of wind from us must havecrept around and they have smelt us. Just see how they climb."
"Yes," said Jack, "and look at that little kid following its mother. Itcan't go very fast and see how she stops and turns, and looks, and waitsfor it. That's mighty pretty, I think."
"Yes," said Joe, "that's nice. That's the way the old ones always dounless they're too badly scared. There, you see the little one hascaught up, and now the mother goes on again."
The disturbance among the first group of goats had started the othersalong the mountainside, and now all were clambering toward the highrocks. The men watched them, until they had passed over the snowbanksand reached the precipice, along which they ran, like flies on a wall,though of course the boys knew that there must be shelves wide enoughfor them to walk on. Soon, however, the sun sank behind the toweringpeak to the westward and the air grew chilly, and remounting theirhorses the travelers returned to camp.
"No mosquitoes to-nig
ht, Hugh," said Jack.
"No," answered Hugh, "I guess we're safe."
"White Bull," said Joe, as they were sitting before the fire, "have youever been up here before?"
"No," said Hugh, "I never have and I never heard of anybody else thathas been up here. Of course, we know that the Kootenays and Stonies comeup here and sometimes maybe a little party of hunting Crees, but nowhite men, as far as I ever heard. Along back, fifteen or twenty yearsago, there was a party of white men camped below here, on Kennedy'sCreek. They were looking for gold. They found a few colors, but nothingthat paid at all and, after a little while, they gave up looking forgold, and broke up into little parties, some of them going back toBenton and some hunting along the flanks of the mountains, but I don'tbelieve they or any other party of white men have ever been up herebefore."
"Well," said Joe, "then, of course, you don't know what there is up thisother creek that comes from the east."
"No, I don't," said Hugh. "It can't be very long, because Kennedy'sCreek must be pretty close to us, on the other side of the mountains."
"Say, Jack," said Joe. "Let's take our guns and go up this creek afootto-morrow, and see what there is there. We might see some game and,anyhow, we'll find out where the stream come from. What do you think,White Bull, is it good?"
"Good," said Hugh, "go on up there and see what you can find. I thinkmaybe I'll stop around the camp or perhaps climb up to the top of theserocks right in front of us, and see what stream it is that is on theother side. It looks like a pretty straight up and down wall in front ofus, but, often, when you get close to a place like that you find thatyou can climb it."
"What do you expect to see on the other side, Hugh?" asked Jack.
"I don't know," said Hugh, "but I reckon I'll see more mountains. Thoseseem to be mostly what grows in this part of the world, but I shouldn'tbe much surprised if right on the other side of that wall I saw a narrowvalley, through which runs one of the forks of Belly River."
"Won't you find lots of snow going up there, Hugh?" said Jack.
"Some, I guess," was the reply, "but you see this is the south face ofthe wall and the sun is pretty strong now and hits the rocks up there,so that I reckon most of the snow will be melted."
"Well," said Jack, "that will be bully. We will send out two exploringparties from the camp, and then at night both will report."
It was long after daylight the next morning when Jack and Joe set out,but the mountains on either side of the little valley were so high thatthe sun had not yet melted the frost on the grass. The first mile oftheir journey was spent in clambering up a series of moss-coveredledges, very steep, but not at all difficult to climb. Then they foundthemselves at the bottom of a talus, a sharp slope of rock fragments,that had fallen from the cliffs above, and they followed this aroundpoint after point, until the narrow valley of the stream opened beforethem.
This valley was nearly straight and only three or four miles in length,walled in on the west and north by a vertical precipice, not very high,but terminating in the same jagged rock pinnacles that crowned the wallto the north of the camp, and beyond which Hugh thought he might see thevalley of Belly River. There was no timber growing at the foot of thisrock wall nor on the steep mountainside that lay to the east, but at onetime the actual valley where the stream ran and where grass andunderbrush now grew, had supported a growth of large timber. All thesetrees, however, had been broken off twelve or fifteen feet above theground and their trunks lay piled one upon another among the growingvegetation like a great heap of giant jack-straws.
"Now, what do you suppose broke off all those trees at just that height,Joe?" asked Jack.
Joe looked for a long time before he answered, and then he said,"Snowslide, I reckon."
"By Jove," said Jack, "that's what it is, sure enough. You can see thetrack of it coming down that mountainside, can't you? What an immensemass of snow it must have been, and what a force it must have had tobreak off those great, thick trees. Some of them look eighteen inchesthrough. I wonder how long ago it took place."
"Yes," said Joe, "it sure must have come down fast and hit those treeshard, and when it got down here into the valley, it must have just piledup. It couldn't get out anywhere, for big and swift as it was, it couldnot knock down this wall."
All along the mountainside opposite to them were to be seen places wheredeep and wide grooves had been cut in the soil and, as they looked moreclosely, they could see the stumps of many trees that had been cut downby the slide.
"Well," said Jack, "that certainly was a big avalanche."
"Avalanche," said Joe, "what's that?"
"Why," said Jack, "it's just another name for snowslide. That's whatthey call a snowslide in Switzerland, I believe. A man once wrote apiece of poetry about a fellow that was climbing the mountains inSwitzerland, and one of the people that he passed said to him, 'Beware,the awful avalanche.' That meant watch out close for snowslides."
"Well," said Joe, "I've never been much in the mountains and I've neverseen a snowslide, but I have heard old people talk about them, and fromwhat they say, they are things to be scared of."
Presently, the boys set out toward the head of the valley, following thelower border of the talus, where the walking was fairly easy. Theyhardly expected to see any game, yet both kept their eyes open foranything that might turn up. Presently, immediately in front of themwere seen tracks where animals had been running back and forth, and alittle examination showed that a small band of mountain sheep had comedown from the rocks and had been playing about, no longer ago than thismorning.
"If we'd been a little earlier, Joe," said Jack, "we might have got ashot at those fellows."
"We may do it yet," replied Joe, "and if we don't do it to-day, perhapswe can find them to-morrow. Very likely they live right here somewhere,and I don't believe they're a bit scary, so that if we look for themcarefully we may be able to get a shot."
They could see where the sheep had come down to the edge of the valley,perhaps to get a bite of green grass, perhaps to drink, though probablynot for water, since the melting snow all over the hillsides would havegiven them many drinking places.
They kept on slowly up the valley, stopping often to look about and,more than once, sitting down and scanning the rocks about, beyond them,and across the valley for game. By this time the sun had climbed overthe mountains and was shining down into the valley with a pleasantwarmth and, with the rising sun, rose swarms of mosquitoes, whichbothered the boys not a little. As they were walking along, Jackslightly in the lead, a brown and white bird suddenly rose from theground, almost at his feet, and then fell again, and tumbling over andover, fluttered off for a little way, as if desperately hurt, and thenlay on the ground, with outspread, quivering wings, and open beak, as ifunable to go further.
"Ah," said Jack, "there's a ptarmigan, and there must be a nest righthere."
Sure enough, a few minutes' search revealed a nest just in front ofJack. It was a mere hollow scratched in the ground and had no lining,except a few blades of grass, and two or three feathers that had droppedfrom the bird's breast. In the nest were six beautiful eggs almostcovered with purplish spots, mottlings and cloudings, and so nearly thecolor of many of the stones that lay on the slope that Jack's eye hadpassed over them two or three times without seeing that they were eggsand not stones.
"Oh, aren't they pretty!" said Jack. "Wouldn't I like to have themsafely back East and a picture of the place where we found them, and ofthe mother bird."
By this time the mother had risen from the ground where she lay and hadwalked back, close to the boys, and, with bristling feathers and angrycluckings, stalked so close to them that they could have touched herwith their outstretched hands.
"Certainly, that's one of the prettiest things I ever saw," said Jack,"and I'm mighty glad to have seen the eggs because I've seen the youngones. Don't you remember, Joe, the little one that we caught three orfour years ago, the first time that you and I ever hunted together onthe mountains
?"
"Sure," said Joe, "I remember. That was the time we got the sheep, justbefore we went off to Grassy Lakes, where you counted your coup on theAssinaboine."
"Yes," said Jack, "that was the time. I tell you, Joe, you and I havehad some pretty good times together, haven't we?"
"You bet," replied Joe, "and two or three times I've been pretty badlyscared when I've been with you, but we always came out all right."
"Well," said Jack, "I've been scared, too, but I suppose we didn'teither of us show it."
"No," answered Joe, "I suppose we didn't. I hope not, anyhow. I don'tmind being scared, if I can only keep it to myself, but I don't like tohave people laugh at me.
"Well," he went on, "let's go ahead, and leave this old mother to get onher eggs again."
The boys kept on towards the head of the valley and at last could seethat the stream that they had been following had its origin in a tiny,deep, green lake, lying at the very head of the valley and close underthe rock wall and the high mountains to the east. When they reached thislake, Jack said, "What do you say, Joe? Shall we cross over and try toget down to camp on the other side of the valley? I don't know whetherwe can find good walking there or not, but I guess we can, and I'd liketo go over new ground if I could."
"I say let's try it," replied Joe. "If we find we can't get down thatway, we can come back and go home the way we came."
"Come on then," said Jack, and the two started across the valley,walking on the beach of the little lake. The outlet was very narrow, andthe boys jumped across it and then set out directly toward themountainside. The going was not good, for the soil was full of water andovergrown by thick moss, above which stood a tangle of small shrubs andunderbrush. However, the distance was not great, and before long theyhad made their way over to the mountainside, and there found a talus ofslide-rock, much like that along which they passed on the other side.Here the walking was not as good as on the other side of the stream,because springs and trickles of water were constantly coming down fromthe mountainside.
A couple of miles this side of camp the slope of the mountain greweasier and scattered trees began to clothe its side. They crossed along, low point of timber and from here there was a gentle descenttoward camp, through a dry open forest. They were almost within sight ofcamp when Jack heard a sound, stopped, and raised his gun, and then astick cracked in the timber not far off. Jack threw his gun to hisshoulder and fired, and in a moment the timber before them seemed filledwith animals, which disappeared almost at once, and the noise of theirfootsteps and of the sticks which they broke in their flight, grewfainter and fainter.
The boys had glimpses of elk running in all directions, but had nochance to shoot again.
"Well," said Jack, "I don't know very certainly what I shot at, but Ithink it was a young bull elk. Let's go over and see if we can findanything."
Stepping briskly forward, the boys were soon near the point where theanimal had stood at which Jack fired. After looking about for a momentor two, Joe said, "You hit him;" and pointed to a dark spot on aweathered tree trunk, which Jack could see was blood.
The boys circled about, looking carefully at the ground, the trunks ofthe trees, and the leaves of the low-growing plants, and presently Jacksaw that Joe had found the trail, which he was following, slowly atfirst, because the sign was hard to see, and then more rapidly.
Jack walked after him and together they followed the trail which leddown toward the camp. The sign was, at first, slight, but after they hadgone some distance they could see a good deal of blood on the ground onboth sides of the tracks, and from this Joe declared that the animal washit in the lungs and would not go far. He was right; a hundred yardsfurther on the graceful form of a young bull elk was stretched on theground. It was a yearling, of course with its horns in the velvet and asyet quite soft.
The boys dressed the animal and then, walking down to the camp, caughtand saddled a pack horse and, bringing it up into the timber, quarteredthe elk, packed it on the horse and returned to camp, where theyunloaded their meat at the foot of a tree and, getting a couple of slingropes, managed with some labor to haul the quarters into the brancheswell above the ground.
"Now," said Joe, "when White Bull comes in we'll see what he says and,if he thinks best, we'll cut out and dry a lot of that elk meat, andtake it along with us. We can't be sure at this time of the year, thatwe're going to kill something every day."
All through the afternoon they lounged about the fire, and the sun wasstill two or three hours high when Jack, who for some time had beenwatching the mountainsides to the north, saw Hugh coming down the slopea long way off toward the camp.
"Hurrah, Joe!" said Jack, "there's Hugh. Pretty soon we'll find out whathe's seen and tell him what we have done."
A little later Hugh reached the camp and, after putting his rifle insidethe tent, said, "Well, boys, I see you've got some fresh meat, and I'mmighty glad of it. I've had quite a walk and am feeling pretty wolfish.Let's get supper and then, after we've eaten, we'll have a whole lot oftime to talk."