"Wall, now, seem' as we-all are well along the way down, Ah may as well tell you-all: thar hain't goin' to be no danger of any claim-jumpers staking your land if Old Grizzly knows anything about it. Thar war a turrible avalanche yesterday and a leetle one at suppertime; it looks like-es-how anuther powerful one will hit the trail any moment. That's why we-all air runnin' away as fast as our hosses kin go," explained Bill.
"Oh! Tell Mike to hurry!" cried Barbara.
"No fear but what we-all are as crazy to gitdown as you kin be, young leddy," said Bill, soothingly.
After four hours' hard traveling, the riders came to a small park where Mike said they could rest and cook their breakfast, and feed the horses. From a certain spot on the clearing on this mountain-side, the peak of Old Grizzly Slide could be seen opposite them, dazzling in the sunshine.
"Well, the old rascal is still up there," declared Anne.
"But you-all can't say how soon its skirts will whisk and send down the trash that always ruins a forest," added Bill.
Even as he spoke, a strange sight was presented to the group who were admiring the sparkling peak. A great mist seemed to rise suddenly from its pinnacle, spreading out and obscuring the sun for a time. Then an ominous rumble echoed along the crest, and rolled down the slopes. The mist was suddenly sucked down by some tremendous force, and then a mighty tremor shook the ground where the escaped riders stood.
The horses seemed to know instinctively that there was some upheaval of nature taking place, for they quivered along their sensitive nerves and nosed the air questioningly. Several of the highbred animals pulled at their halters and, withdrawn-back lips, snapped viciously at the air as if to warn away the destruction.
"Oh, oh! Will it hit us?" wailed Barbara.
"No, we are safe on this opposite up-trail now. But a few hours delay in getting away this morning and we would have been caught in the drift," said Sam Brewster, wiping beads of cold perspiration from his brow.
"Daddy, you don't think that avalanche was on the side of our gold mine, do you?" asked Polly, plaintively.
"Pretty close to Choko's Find, Polly dear," said her father.
"Humph! Gol' all gone dis time!" added Mike, dramatically.
"Oh no! don't say that, Mike!" wailed Polly.
"Notour gold mine!" added Eleanor, with gasping breath.
"Mebbe no! Mike t'ink yes."
There fell a silence at that, and each one looked at the other, while the same thought passed through their minds: "If that slide buried Choko's Find again, where would they all have been had they remained in the cave?"
Nothing could have been done to avert the catastrophe on Grizzly Slide, so the adventurers finished their breakfast in silence. Mrs. Brewster seemed the only one who appeared grateful for their safety. Doubtless, the others felt a certainsenseof thanks but they were so disturbed over the evident loss of the mine again, that it was paramount with them.
Having packed the camp dishes, Mike started on the trail again, silently followed by the rest. Not until they reached Bear Forks where the roads separated, was anything more said about the mine.
"Jeb can accompany the ladies to Pebbly Pit, while Ah ride on to Oak Creek to meet the train that will bring John and his friends. It doesn't look as if we-all can use their knowledge now, but we may as well talk things over seeing that like-as-how they will have had the long trip here," ventured Mr. Brewster, thoughtfully.
"We-all ought to make up a crowd to go up and try to find Haywuth's body. Mebbe it will show when the snow's melted from the slope," added Bill.
"Sam, why don't you-all plan while on your ride to Oak Creek, to take Top Notch Trail the same time John and Tom take the expert up? The larger the party the less danger of accident, you know," suggested Mrs. Brewster.
"Are we going with them, mother?" Polly said, in a pleading tone.
"No, indeed, child! Aren't you cured with what happened this time?"
"'Lightning never strikes in the same place twice,' Mrs. Brewster," said Eleanor, hopefully.
"And you know, Maw, such a terrible slide has not occurred here-abouts in twenty years," quickly added Polly, dropping back into her ranch vernacular in her anxiety. "It may be another twenty years before such another slide happens."
"And we can get all the gold out of the cave that we need in a short time," Barbara reminded them.
This made the men laugh, as the girl's words showed how little she really understood the situation up on the peak.
"Well, we can talk things over better when theboys are present to advise us. Meantime, you-all ride home and rest up. Ah'll bring the boys along about night-fall," said Mr. Brewster.
The inhabitants of Oak Creek had felt the trembling of the ground caused by the huge land-slide on Grizzly, and knowing that so many of their prominent citizens were there at the time, they were grouped about the public house anxiously talking over the chances for escape that might be had on the mountain-top.
At first sight of the returned men, a wild welcome rang out, not only from the families who feared their men-folks might never return, but also from the citizens who were genuinely glad to see Bill and his possé, and Simms and his boy, safely back.
After having had his hand shaken as if it were a pump-handle, Sam Brewster continued on to the station to await the train from Denver. As he sat on the edge of the horse-trough thinking over the recent thrilling experiences, he suddenly realized that if Polly had lost her mine again, she might also lose her desire to go away to school in the Fall. This seemed a happy thought, for he sat beaming at the old box-car until the whistle announced the over-due local.
Two handsome young men jumped from therear platform the moment the train slowed down, and soon Mr. Brewster had one of them by both hands giving him a hearty welcome.
"Now, Dad, try your muscle on Tom's arm. Mine has had enough for one day," laughed John, placing an arm affectionately over his father's shoulder.
With a young man on either side explaining why the expert was not with them, Sam Brewster walked down the street towards Simms' office. Both young men were eagerly talking so the older man had not told them about the avalanche.
"I was saying to John, what a different town this will be the moment we begin operations on Polly's claim," said Tom Latimer.
"As the train pulled in I tried to look at the station and streets through future glasses—seeing the rows of fine store-buildings and the thrift that always follows on the heels of a rich find," added John.
"We'll drop in Simms' office, boys, as I have to borrow his horses. I came on to meet you without bringing any mounts," said Mr. Brewster.
Both young men laughed heartily at this admission, and Tom said teasingly: "I suppose you were so excited over Polly's discovery of gold that you clean forgot we were city chaps whoare not overfond of hiking over these trails."
Simms was talking to the coroner about the witnesses to the death of Bill's man, and the newly arrived young engineers heard him say: "Sam Brewster was the other one who escaped that death."
"What's he talking about, Dad?" whispered John, anxiously, as he watched the officer take notes.
Then in as few words as possible, the boys were told all about the land-slide on Grizzly that had, most likely, buried Choko's Find under tons and tons of débris—maybe, hid it completely again for all time.
They sat in Simms' office talking over the plans for the morrow when a large party was to go up Top Notch. As they sat arranging who would be the best men to take, John interrupted the conversation:
"Isn't that Jeb riding along the road with two led horses?"
"Sure enough! Your mother must have remembered I had but one mount, and so Jeb was hurried here with extra horses for you," replied Mr. Brewster, running to the door and hailing his man.
On the way to Pebbly Pit, Tom rode alongsideMr. Brewster while John rode beside Jeb. The two latter riders had much to say to each other, for John had been Jeb's particular charge when the hired man first went to work at Pebbly Pit. Now John was a head taller than his erstwhile guardian, even if he was much the younger.
Jeb acted very morose and absentminded; instead of giving sensible replies to John's questions about the avalanche, he would mutter and say inconsequent things. Finally John said:
"Well, it must have been a narrow escape, anyway."
"That's just it, John. Ef Ah don't run away from Pebbly Pit she'll git me!" returned Jeb, greatly troubled.
"I'm talking about that land-slide—what doyoumean?" laughed John, beginning to understand that Jeb was worried over something other than the Grizzly experience.
"Wh—y—Ah'm meanin' that widder! It's leap-year, you know."
John had never heard about Sary, so he was unprepared to offer any advice, but he thought best to agree in everything with Jeb, concerning this particular one, and all "widders" in general.
"Ye-es—siree! That Sary kin ketch any man she starts out to trap. Ef she laid eyes onenny of them farm-hands at Pebbly Pit, like-as-how she has onme, they'd roll right over and eat from her han's. But, you see, John, Ah ain't a marryin' man, so Ah wants to escape."
"Jeb, I have a plan! Suppose we get Tom to flirt with Sary and then let her understand she is fickle, so that you won't consider her for a mate," whispered John, thinking of the fun he could have by playing this joke on his friend.
Jeb gave John a scornful look that meant volumes. "D'ye think Sary would fall fer it? Ah tells you-all she ain't no fule. She kin see straight, an' she knows Tom Latimer ain't in her class."
Thus trying to plan for Jeb's peace and happiness, the two found they had reached the Rainbow Cliffs. Tom and Mr. Brewster were looking over the beautiful shining walls, and Tom sighed:
"You wouldn't have to waste one regret on Polly's loss of the gold mine, if you would but consent to let us sell a bit of these walls."
"Ah'mnot worryin' over her loss of gold, Tom; it's glad Ah am that it turned out so. Now she won't coax to go away to some big school where Ah can't see her for six months."
Tom Latimer turned about in the saddle andsent Sam Brewster a keen look and thought: "So thatis why he won't consent to these stones being mined and sold!"
Then the four men rode up the wide trail that ran from the Cliffs to the house where they found a group of girls and women eagerly awaiting them. Polly ran down the road and caught hold of her brother's stirrup in her impatience to welcome him. John laughed and jumped from his horse, then gave his sister the kiss and hug she expected.
Anne Stewart stood on the porch watching this little by-play, and when the brother and sister slowly walked along, arm linked in arm, she smiled and sighed, then turned to greet Tom Latimer. But she did not see Mrs. Brewster's watchful eye quickly turn away from her whensheturned from watching John.
As Tom Latimer was known to the Maynard girls and Anne, having met them at the College Prom the past year, he was warmly welcomed by them as well as by the Brewsters. Barbara felt an especial interest in him, as he was "one of her set" in society, and he had been invited to her home when her brother entertained a few of his college friends.
Polly now brought her brother up and introducedhim to Eleanor and Barbara, but Anne was not there.
"Wh-y—where did Anne go? She was here this minute?" cried Polly, looking around in amazement.
Mrs. Brewster had seen Anne steal away and she understood the reason. Now she quickly diverted attention by saying: "Of course you boys have heard about the awful land-slide?"
As it was so recent an event, it instantly absorbed all. Then Mr. Brewster told about the plans to ride up the Trail on the morrow and ascertain just how much damage had been done. John seemed to be as excited a talker as any one, but his mother saw him send many a searching glance around for some one he had not found.
She managed to reach his side without attracting the attention of the others, and slyly whispered: "Anne Stewart went out towards the Cliffs a moment ago. I saw her leave by the back pathway."
Then while every one was trying to make out the cloud-draped peak of Grizzly Slide, having had their attention directed to it by an exclamation from Mrs. Brewster, John backed away and ran behind the kitchen to the path that led to the Cliffs and Anne.
Jeb found it necessary to fill the wood-box in the kitchen, and it was just after John had passed there that he stumbled up the stone walk. Sary stood in the doorway grinning sympathetically as she watched John dash away after Anne Stewart, when Jeb said:
"Lem'me get by wid this load of wood."
She smirked and said: "Ah, Jeb! Thar's nuthin' in the wurruld like young love, ain't it?"
Now Sary's would-be bewitching leer and her dangerous proximity to him, frightened Jeb worse than any Rocky Mountain avalanche ever, so that he forgot he held an armful of wood. He suddenly went lax in the muscles, dropped the wood, and turned to flee to his hay-loft where no Sary dared follow without a chaperone.
One stick of the wood fell upon Sary's toe, and not having "feet of brass or clay," she uttered a yelp of pain. Jeb never stopped to inquire what had caused that cry—whether of baffled love or shooting pains in a toe.
Sary limped over to a wooden chair and sitting there with her foot held tenderly in both hands, she rocked back and forth, threatening, in an undertone, all males but Jeb in particular.
"You-all jes' wait! Don't think Sary Dodd's a fule—cuz she hain't! Ah'll git you yit, so runaway an' make-out like-es-how you are free and not lookin' to any female in pertickler!"
Having thus unburdened her soul of its wrath against Jeb, the cook limped over to the stove to hang the kettle over the fire.
Supper was late that night, but no one noticed it. Sary had perfected a scheme she was going to try on Jeb, some day, soon, so she was all smiles and patience when the family gathered about the table.
"I see you set the table in the living-room, mother," remarked John, approvingly.
"Oh, we have wrought many changes this summer, John, but the best of all is the one whereby we eat out-of-doors when it is good weather. To-night we will eat here as it is too dark under the old oak," explained Mrs. Brewster, smiling.
Plans were now discussed for the trip to Top Notch the following morning, and it was decided that Jeb should go for Mike early, and secure his services as before.
"If such a crowd of men are going, I don't see why the owners of the mine can't go, too. We are as safe there, as here," grumbled Polly.
"Because we are going to make a three days' trip of this, Poll, and women-folk would not feel comfortable with such a lot of mixed men," explainedJohn, pulling his sister's hair, lovingly.
"Well, Polly and I are as good riders as any one of you, and seeing it isourmine, we ought to havesomething to say about it," added Eleanor, poutingly.
"I suppose you-all have forgotten that we invited that nice young stranger and his friend, Jim Latimer, over to spend this Sunday with us," now ventured Mrs. Brewster.
"Oh, that's so! The boy Kenneth who looks like Montresor!" Anne now added, understanding Mrs. Brewster's idea and abetting it.
"Kenneth Evans! Is itthisSunday he is coming?" asked Eleanor eagerly.
"We might be back on time for that; this is only Friday night, you know," persisted Polly, clinging to the hope of riding to Top Notch.
"No girl or woman is going—let that end the argument!" now said Mr. Brewster, with finality.
There was silence for a moment, then Polly laughingly said to Eleanor: "Nolla, you and I will ride over to visit some old friends of mine to-morrow. We will take our lunch and spend the day with them. As it is half-way on the Bear Forks road we might as well ride with our boys when they go."
"Polly, we plan to leave here before dawn sowe can be on the climb when day breaks. Nolla and you will please remember to be fast asleep at that time. Good-night!"
With these words, Sam Brewster got up and started to go to his room, but Polly would not allow her daddy to leave her in that frame of mind. So she ran over and jumped up to throw her arms about his neck in her usual fashion. What she whispered in his ear no one knew but he smiled and nodded his head in meek acquiescence.
"Poll—did he say we might go?" whispered Eleanor.
"No—he won't give in that far, but he said we could ride with them as far as Bear Forks, if we were up in time. I'm bound to wake up, so now I'm going right to bed," said Polly.
But Polly and Eleanor did not wake up in the morning until seven o'clock. The riders were far up along the trail by that time, so the girls had to make the best of the day.
When the men riders were well along the trail, Jeb motioned to Mr. Brewster that he wished to speak with him, so they permitted their horses to slow up and drop behind for a time.
"Ah'm thinkin', Mis'r Brewster, thet Ah'll have to give notice that Ah'm quittin' your ranch. Not what Ah've got any kick comin' about the fam'ly—tharnever w'ar a nicer one. But Ah've got ta save mahself."
"Jeb!" gasped Sam Brewster in unbelief. "Youcouldn'tleave us! Why, man, you're one of the family."
"Yeh, Ah knows all that, Mis'r Brewster, but Ah jus' dasent stay where a female badgers my peace o' mind."
"Tell me what is wrong, Jeb, and Ah'll fix it if Ah can," anxiously promised Sam Brewster.
Jeb gazed wildly about for some one to explain for him, and in gazing, his eye rested on John. Big splendid John who had only been a little shaver when he went to Pebbly Pit to work.
"Oh John! Cain't you-all drop back and tell your Paw what ails me?" shouted Jeb, certain that John, who had been to college, could do anything.
John dropped behind his companions, and Sam Brewster hurriedly explained that Jeb seemed to have a queer belief that he would be done for if he remained at Pebbly Pit.
"Oh, did Jeb bother you about that story, Dad? Here, you ride on in my place, and let me get this thing straightened out."
Alone with Jeb, John said persuasively: "Nowtell me all about it, Jeb—begin from the beginning."
"Wall, seein' es how you-all is in love, mebbe you-all kin understand about this love-stuff.
"Now, yuh see, John, when that Sary Dodd come to Pebbly Pit es a widder, to help housework, she never cast an eye around fer a likely 'second' until that derned old dance at the school-house. It wuz that time when she perked up in all that borrered finery that she landed a rich ole bachelor-rancher on her ticket to dinner. But he gave one look and run. He never showed up again that night.
"Seein' like-es-how her partner vamoosed, she grabbed me to do the Grand March with her. Mebbe it w'ar the way Ah danced, that took her fancy. But whatever it w'ar, she's ben locooed after me sence that night.
"Now, John, yuh know Sary ain't no prize-winner fer looks, en Ah knows a good looker when Ah seez one, cuz Ah hev sat and seen lots of pritty gals on the movie sheet in Oak Crick. Gosh! Some of them peaches Ah see'd would make yuh leave a stiddy job like Pebbly Pit. So Ah saved andsavedtill now Ah've got a tidy bit laid by fer some pritty gal, like them in the Movies.
"Ef Sary Dodd knew Ah had money saved! Phew! She'd get at it whar Ah hid it in a hole under the barn-rafters, then she'd hold it out to tempt me, like-es-how yuh lead a balky cow to be milked. But that is one thing Sarydon'tknow!"
John laughed loud and long at the picture Jeb graphically sketched of Sary and himself, but the orator cared nothing for John's laughing. He was too concerned over his freedom.
"Sary's got some good points—yuh've got to hand it to her, even ef she hain't got a figger like Miss Anne's, and hair like Miss Polly's. But she can cook! Gosh,cain'tshe cook and clean. So ef it w'ar a housekeeper er a business partner Ah wanted, Ah coulden pick a better one than Sary Dodd.
"But yuh unnerstand me, John, don't yuh, when Ah says Ah wants something pritty sittin' afore the pianner to sing to me, or dressin' up in finery like Miss Bob's and playin' a lady? Ah've ben a hired man and worked on a ranch all mah life, but now Ah've got a bit saved up Ah kin go to the city and pick th' gal Ah wants.
"And lem'me tell yuh, John! In the Movies them gals what looks so pritty makefinefarm-wives. Gosh, but one city gal with yaller curlshadn't a cent to live on when she met a feller what owned a little ranch in Arizony. They hooked up and she was that happy on the farm! She churned the butter and fed chickens and did all the chores. And he looked after the stock. Evenin's she played and sang fer him and he sat in a big arm-chair and smiled at her.
"That's the kind of wife Ah wants, John—and how kin Ah sit and listen to Sary sing? Mebbe she kinchurnbetter'n that one I saw in the Movies, but Ah bet a plugged penny that she cain't play a pianner!"
Jeb's tone was so emphatic at the last accusation of Sary's short-comings, that John almost rolled from his horse with laughter.
Now Jeb had said all that he had to say, so he waited patiently for John to get over his spasm of laughter. Then he looked at him as if to ask what had he to say about such positive evidence as he had brought forth, regarding the Movie girl making the best kind of a rancher's wife?
"Oh, Jeb! How I love your innocence!" gasped John, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand. "I shall certainly sue the Movies for betraying your trust and faith in womankind. For they sure did more than amuse you for yourdime. You took for a solid fact, all the silly mush you saw on the screen as real life. But, it wasreellife, Jeb, spelled with two 'e's' instead of the genuine r-e-a-l way.
"Jeb, how'd you like to spend every nickel you've saved, on a girl with dyed hair, belladonna eyes, painted lips you could never kiss, blackened eye-lashes and eye-brows, and goodness only knows what else she puts on and takes off to look pretty in the pictures?"
Jeb listened with loose jaw and wide-opened eyes to this strange description of all the lady-loves he knew on the screen.
"Why, Jeb, these blonde Movie beauties have a different husband every few months. The ones who play star-leads make the biggest splash in the puddles, but the little ones try to mimic the big stars and get into all sorts of trouble. I haven't heard of but two or three who could treat a good husband decently. As for sitting at home playing and singing for you—ha, ha, ha! It costs about five hundred dollars each evening to entertain one of them.
"Churn? Did you say she looked so cute in a big bungalow apron churning the butter on a vine-clad porch? Didn't the porch open right out on a little pasture and tidy barnyard, where herdevoted husband could stand admiring her? Was it a dear little one-and-a-half story vine-clad house painted white, with green wooden shutters?"
"Uh, huh! Just so! Did you see that gal, John?" eagerly asked Jeb.
"Jeb, the Movies use that same little house and painted scenery for every farm-picture they make. Sometimes a deserted wife hangs to the post of the porch and plans to kill herself. Or sometimes it is the husband who hears how his head man ran away with his foolish little wife. But, Jeb, never believe anything you see in the Movies, for they have turned more heads than you can count, by their subtle ways. Everything always ends right in the Movies, but it is seldom so in real life.
"Now do you want my best advice, Jeb?"
"Ah shore do, John, cuz you-all knows what's what!"
"Then listen, Jeb, and think things over well before you leave Pebbly Pit and take your money away to spend on a pretty Movie gal.
"You say that Sary is a right smart cook and houseworker. You admit that she is thrifty, and will save that money you've got hidden away in the barn.
"Now look at that good-fer-nothing Bill Doddshe married! In less than a year she had him working on a ranch that she saved up for. Didn't she keep him at it until it was most paid up? If he hadn't gone with the flu, that ranch'd been paid for in another year.
"Sary isn't so feeble, neither. She can save twenty more ranches before she cripples up. Any man who has ambition would make no mistake in choosing Sary. Now I believe Sary would make a big man of you, Jeb.
"She may not dye her hair or paint her face, but she's got a square look, and we-all know what sound stock she comes of. There isn't a better family in all Colorado than the Morson's. And Sary Morson is all there! She has sterling qualities that will last after beauty and singing is worn thread-bare.
"Of course she isn't anything like Anne Stewart—there never was any girl like her! But you make a big mistake if you go away to find a pretty girl, all dolled up like the Movie Queens, for your wife. She'd take all your money and laugh at you the next moment.
"I've lived in big cities, Jeb, and seen a lot of the ways of pretty girls who dress up and pose for the boys, but not one of that kind is worth a shake. Take it from me, Jeb, you'd be happyand contented if you had a ranch of your own, and a sensible wife to make you toe the mark. You're too easy for any other sort, Jeb, although you figure that you need an ideal. Not so, my man!"
Jeb heaved a mighty sigh as if he was passing on his rainbow dreams forever. Then he turned sorrowful eyes on John.
"Wall, Ah cain't fergit that pooty gal in a hurry, even when Sary heaves in sight wid a heaped plate of puddin' fer me. Ah s'pose Ah'll hev to lethermarry me, er git out to onct. Sence yuh've ben talkin', Ah have a sort of weakenin' fer her capable ways, and shore ez shootin', she'll grab the first chanst Ah gives her to know the wust, because this is leap-year."
John shouted with laughter again, and Tom Latimer turned back his horse to ask what the joke was about.
"Nothing that concerns little boys like you, Tom," laughed John, as he winked at his friend.
"But I feel sure I can be of help to Jeb as well as to you, John," insisted Tom.
"No, Mis'r Tom. It's all over," sighed Jeb, in a funereal tone. "Ah've made up mah mind to take the med'cine, er beat it!"
With that, Jeb spurred his horse on and joinedhis master, leaving John to merely hint at the great trouble that almost disrupted the household at Pebbly Pit. "Now, thank Heavens, I have saved the ranch from ruin, and united two hearts that ought to beat as one, hereafter!"
Tom laughed. "I'm glad you confessed to your profession. I'll be wary of your match-making, in the future."
"But you have to find matches before you can make them," laughed John.
"You are so blind that you only see one pretty girl at Pebbly Pit, whereas there are four!" exclaimed Tom, smilingly.
"Four! Anne Stewart is one, and Miss Maynard mayconsiderherself lovely enough for a match—I don't. But mother and Sary will never consent to your including them in your match-making."
"Hah! I thought so! You are so blind over Anne Stewart, that you fail to see how your own little sister is growing up to be a stunning miss. Why, she will be a beauty at twenty, for she is on the high-way there already."
"Tom!" gasped John. "Wh-y—Polly is only a child!"
"That's what all brothers think of their pretty sisters. Some day, a fine young fellow will thinkdifferently, and you'll want to club him. But the trouble is, that Polly will think exactly as the handsome man thinks, and she will not listen to her big brother's advice to remain a little girl.
"Besides Polly, there is Eleanor Maynard. She, too, is a fine girl and will grow to wonderful womanhood. Now, John, take more notice of your 'little' sister, for she is what we boys call a 'peach.'"
"Ha, ha, ha! I've never heard you say so much about a girl in my life! If I didn'tknowbetter, I'd say you were half-way in love with Polly, yourself. But I know what a quitter you are whenever there is a girl in the party," laughed John.
Tom flushed slightly but made no reply. Before John could tease him any further, the party reached Four Mile Blaze. Mike tolled off the riders, and warned each one to give strictest attention to the going as one misstep meant a crippled horse or a serious accident.
From there on, the men rode through the lodge-pole forest to avoid the great mass of débris formed of rocks, earth, and torn-up trees that obstructed the old trail. Simms felt sure his man had escaped in some miraculous manner, after the avalanche swept him from his feet. But seeingthe mountains of wood-trash that were washed down from the peak and piled up everywhere, he lost faith.
Still he and his men were bound to make the most of the least hope, so they sought thoroughly over the side where the two miners had been discovered, that day. Nothing but trees, rocks, and earth piled in toppling heaps on the steep slope of the mountain were seen, however.
While Simms and Bill sought over every foot of ground for their missing friend, Mike led Sam Brewster and his two engineers, down the opposite slope, to a blaze that told them they were going towards the cave. But the nearer they came to the claim, the greater was the destruction of the forest. Finally they could see where the ledge had been, but so massed up was the trash that had been swept down and over the side, that it was impossible to reach the ravine.
Mike chuckled: "Him unner alla trees on Grizzly Sly—him yaller insides safe nuff!"
"You're right, Mike," laughed John. "If the gold is in that spot it is safe enough for a long time to come."
"I think this slide was the luckiest thing that ever happened to the girls," ventured Tom Latimer, thoughtfully.
"Why?" anxiously demanded Mr. Brewster, visions of his darling being carried away to school uppermost in his mind.
"When we are ready to bore for the gold, this trash will be an easy thing to burn and clear away. Meantime, it keeps off all claim-jumpers or thieves who need a little hard yellow metal."
"But you must admit that it is a tough proposition to mine here," said Mr. Brewster. "A land-slide is apt to happen any moment and bury all the apparatus. All previous efforts will be wiped out and you must begin all over again. Then consider the difficulty of transportation, from this peak down the long trail, and over miles of rough country to the Oak Creek railway."
"Hoh! a mere bagatelle, Mr. Brewster, when gold weighs in the other scale. Why, men will dig through the earth for gold! See what happened in Alaska. Once men found gold to be had for the pain and privation they would be forced to endure, they gladly gave up home, loved ones,—all—for the lust of gold.
"And see what that drive did for Alaska. Railroads opened, cities founded, people settled there, and all because men fought with odds against finding buried gold!"
"We wouldn't have to worry over this out-of-the-waymine if father would consent to have his cliffs utilized," hinted John.
"Not with my consent!" retorted Sam Brewster.
"Well, come on, Mike. Let's pitch camp and get something to eat," said John, resignedly.
"It's not that I have any silly sentiment over the cliffs, my boys—don't mistake me there. But I have a serious reason for refusing to coin money out of that beauty—at least for a few years to come."
"If I guess the truth about it, will you admit it to me some day?" quizzed Tom Latimer, his eyes twinkling.
"No, sir! Not even to my wife—it'smysecret!"
After breakfast the four girls asked each other what there was to do. They had had so much excitement all week, that the simple life palled on them.
"It's exactly like drinking milk after you have been kept on spice-beer for a long time," laughed Eleanor.
"Well, Nolla and I have an invitation to spend the day with friends of mine. We can ride over there any time," said Polly.
"Then for goodness' sake, come on! I'll be asleep again if we don't do something," exclaimed Eleanor.
"All right, I'll saddle Noddy and you can have Choko. We will have to harness them ourselves now that Jeb is away, and the other hands are working on the ranch."
"You're not going far, are you?" asked Anne, suspiciously.
Polly laughed. "Not as far as we went yesterday."
Mrs. Brewster had been told where Polly planned to take Eleanor, and she smiled approvingly. A nice luncheon was packed up and placed in the panniers of the burros, and the three grownups stood and watched the two girls ride down the trail to Rainbow Cliff.
As they went, Eleanor said: "Did you mention the name of your friends? I forgot, if you have."
Polly laughed. "Maybe I told you, but I don't remember now. Anyway, you wouldn't know them if I did tell you their names."
"But what do you call them when you address them?"
"I always call the old one 'Grandfather,' but he has a large family that I never bother with.Heis our friend.
"This family lives and does queer things that no city folks ever dream of," added Polly.
"Something like that Halsey woman, eh?" laughed Eleanor, who had heard from Sary about the disobedient children.
"The Beavers are too polite to force their company on us. And as we may not care to eatas they do, I decided to bring lunch, which we can enjoy by ourselves," explained Polly.
Noddy and Choko now reached the trail leading up the pine-tipped crest of the mountain back of Pebbly Pit, and were soon climbing through a veritable wilderness of sage-brush and aspens.
"My, what a place to live in!" said Eleanor, surprised.
"It's not far, now," returned Polly.
Shortly after this, Polly turned Noddy from the old trail and plunged into a thicket of aspens.
"Good gracious! How can they ever find their own home?" wondered Eleanor, gazing at the closely growing aspen trees.
"They know everything! And Noddy knows the way by this time, too, as I like to come here and spend the day. Besides there are blazes on the large trees to guide one."
Noddy came out of the aspen grove after a time and then followed a mountain-stream up-trail for half a mile or so, before turning to look at her rider.
"Oh, you wise little Noddy. How did you know I wanted to stop here?" laughed Polly, patting the burro affectionately.
Noddy flicked back her long ears in approvalof such words and petting, but Eleanor's cry made the burro listen intently.
"Polly! What a dreadful place to live in! Surely no one exists in this lonesome wilderness, do they?"
"Mr. Beaver is clearing away the aspens just as fast as he can, but as soon as they are all cut down, he will move the whole family to some other dense grove, as they live on aspens, you know."
"What—what! I didn't understand you!" cried Eleanor.
Polly laughed as she pointed to a pond made by a dam crudely built across the stream. It was rough and queer looking, but it answered its purpose very well.
Eleanor saw half a dozen conical shaped huts built of mud in a row across the dam, then she stared at both sides of the stream, up and down, but no other habitation could she see. On the opposite bank several large trees had been felled and a quantity of aspens had been cut down and piled in confusion on the edge of the water.
"Do your ranchers live near here?" asked she.
"I didn't say they were ranchers, Nolla."
"Well, woodcutters, or what you call them!"
"Yes," laughed Polly, "they are woodcutters and live in those mud huts."
"What?" cried Eleanor again.
"S-sh! Not so loud or you will frighten them away!"
"Polly—impossible! Whatdoyou mean anyway?"
"The beavers live there until the family grows too large, then they either build another story to the house, or start a new colony where aspens can be had in plenty. As there are so many young aspens here in perfect security, for the beavers, Grandfather Beaver remains here."
"Oh, Polly! You mean they arereal beavers!" gasped Eleanor.
"Yes, and I knew you would love to see them at work, but we have to keep very quiet if we want them to come out."
"Tell me about them—quick—before we have to go away," begged Eleanor, eagerly.
"We won't have to go, but we have to keep quiet. You see they must have been cutting aspens over there, when they heard us coming and so they made a dive for safety. They are now hiding in the huts."
"What can we do to coax them out again?"
"We'll lead the burros to the park to graze,and we'll come back and sit quietly on this rock to watch for them."
So the two burros were taken to a small nearby clearing where buffalo grass offered a juicy repast for them. Having hobbled them to keep them from straying, Polly led the way back to the beaver-dam.
"If you were over there to examine those cut aspens you would find each one about eighteen inches long and about one and a half inches thick. The beavers always build near an aspen grove, as it is their food, but not finding a grove near the water, they have to swim up or down until they reach what they need. That is why you find their huts on water," explained Polly.
"But I've heard they are water animals."
Before Polly could reply, a sleek head bobbed up from the water near one of the huts and Eleanor gasped with surprise. The beaver swam to the opposite bank where the trees had been cut down. He climbed quickly out of the stream and started to roll a heavy log over the ground until it splashed down into the pond. He then jumped after it and continued rolling and pushing it along till he reached the dam. Instantly, more beavers came out from the huts and assisted in towing the log to their dam of aspens.
"Oh, oh, Polly!" whispered Eleanor in excited astonishment, but Polly held her finger over her lips in warning.
"I do believe they plan to build a new dam further up-stream, Nolla. If that is so, we will have something worth while to watch for during the next few days. Just now they are repairing the old houses for the Winter, and that log is to be a bulwark about which green cuttings of willow and young aspens can be woven as a partial strainer for the water. The débris that thus collects in the chinks between the cuttings, makes the dam firmer and yet more flexible than a solid structure would."
Just then, the sound of a falling tree made Eleanor jump and look across the stream.
"Other industrious beavers cutting down another tree," explained Polly.
"How do they ever do it, Poll?"
"If you watch, you will see that beaver go to work."
Not one beaver appeared, but four that hurried to the bank and moved the newly cut tree into the water. One of the four dragged the tree with its branches still on, into the mid-stream where, catching a heavy branch between his teeth, he steered it to the row of huts.
Directly back of the first one, swam the other three, each dragging a section of tree to deposit on the dam, where an old beaver was hard at work. As soon as the first beaver reached the huts, the old fellow gave a peculiar call that brought out a score or more of workers. They all went to their tasks as if drilled by a master.
"My old Grandfather is not there this morning, or that other boss would not be taking his place," whispered Polly.
Eleanor had been using her eyes to good advantage and now called to Polly anxiously. "Look a'there, Polly! Those beavers are eating the tree!"
"They're not eating it but are cutting it down. Now you watch and you will see how they do it."
The tree in question, stood on the shore and was about six inches in diameter and about sixteen feet in height. The boss of another group of beavers tested the tree by placing his fore-paws against the trunk and spreading out his hind legs as a bracer. He sat upon his tail and took a deliberate bite from the bark. No wonder Eleanor thought he was eating the tree!
After gnawing at one side, he thumped the ground with his extended tail and ran away. Other beavers took his place and began cutting inmuch the same manner. Then the boss beaver, who was superintending the work, pushed the workers away and showed them how to work in a better way. This done, the boss thumped the ground with his tail—just as a policeman strikes the walk with his night-club—and the cutters went back to work.
Suddenly the boss thumped the ground repeatedly and the cutters ran to a safe distance. A moment later, the tree began swaying and crashed down into the pond. It had been so cut and planned that labor and time would be saved by throwing it directly into the stream.
It was towed down into the general harvest-pile and left for other colonists to saw into required shape and length for the additions to their huts.
Soon after this, a number of beavers came forth and swam to the extreme upper end of the pond. Here they climbed up on the bank and disappeared from sight in the aspen-covered forest.
"Where are they going?" asked Eleanor, anxiously.
"We'll soon find out!" declared Polly.
As Polly spoke, a beaver swam along the bank and scrambled out quite near the spot where the two girls sat quietly watching. He sniffed andthen plunged back to hurry to the huts where he must have reported the result of his trip. Immediately after, the boss commanded him to lead the way, and both returned to the place for a thorough investigation.
The scout brought his boss up the bank and sniffed. Polly and Eleanor were quivering with excitement, as they saw the beavers making for the trail.
"Let's see what is wrong?" whispered Polly, cocking her rifle in case of emergency.
"Oh, don't do that!" cried Eleanor, catching hold of Polly's arm.
"Stop! Let go—that is how accidents happen. You drag on one's arm and the trigger, all ready to fire, is pulled accidentally. I know what I am about, so you need have no concern."
Eleanor felt chagrined and meekly followed Polly after this. They crept through the woods without making a sound.
The two beavers reached the clearing where Noddy and Choko were grazing, and the moment the boss saw the burros, he turned and snapped at the foolish scout that had brought him this journey for naught! But the subdued laughter from the girls made the beavers rush pell-mell intothe pond to wonder whether burros could laugh like that!
On the way back to their rock of observation, Polly said, "Beavers are slow and awkward on land so that the agile panther, the alert wildcat, or wolves and bears, form a constant menace to them. Because of their unwieldy and short legs, they cannot escape quickly, but in water they are wonderful swimmers, so, water being necessary to their safety, they build their huts on the dams that will not bear up other wild animals. If their dams were constructed solidly, the beavers would soon be extinct, as forest savages would crawl over and glut on the helpless prey."
"Didn't you say we could follow those other ones that went up-stream?" asked Eleanor.
"Yes, come on," replied Polly, leading the way for some distance before seeing a sign of a beaver again. Then suddenly, she clutched hold of Eleanor's arm.
"Ah, there's Grandfather, hard at work!"
"Where—which?" cried Eleanor, eagerly.
"The one with a limp and a twisted back!"
The girls had reached a place where the stream widened and here they found a great number of beavers at work. Some cutting, some dragging,others swimming with aspens, willows and alders, and all ordered about by an old crippled beaver.
But despite his twisted back and decided halt in gait, he moved about quicker than the others, showing them where to place, how to saw, when to cut the aspens, and other important details of construction.
"There are a lot of pines, Polly—why doesn't he use them?"
"A beaver doesn't like the smelly, pitchy wood, so they never cut them unless they have to clear a roadway from an aspen grove to the stream of water."
"Then they ought to use all those trees already down. There are lots that have been felled by forest fires, I guess."
"There again they show their wisdom," explained Polly. "A beaver never cuts dead wood as it dulls and injures his teeth. And dead wood does not last like live trees, either."
At this moment, Grandfather Beaver seemed to sniff a familiar as well as a doubtful presence. He lifted his nose high and thumped his tail for an assistant. Leaving commands with this beaver, the Grandfather went into the stream and swam away.
Eleanor was sorry to lose sight of him, but almostbefore she could speak, the old fellow rose laboriously from the water just in front of her. He waited, sniffing anxiously, but found a stranger with his friend, so he half-slid back into the stream.
Polly made strange sounds and ran down towards him. To Eleanor's amazement the old fellow actually expressed joy at seeing a friend. He emitted peculiar sounds and Polly stood a few feet away uttering queer sounds, too. Then he sent her a look of love—if there ever was one—and after this welcome he slid back into the water to continue the work as overseer.
"Polly Brewster—I never in all my life!" gasped Eleanor.
Polly laughed as she watched her beaver join the workers and scold them for laziness while he was absent visiting a friend.
"Let's get the burros, now, and I'll show you a place where we can lunch while I tell you how Grandfather and I got to know each other so well," suggested Polly.
As the girls rode along the up-trail, Polly told the story.
[A]"A few years ago, while out adventuring, I found this colony of beavers. I wanted fatherto come with me and see them, but he was too busy that year.