"Hallo! What's that?" said Chris softly, as he lay on his left side
gazing at an elevation about a couple of feet from his nose; and it was
some time before he could make out that it was a sack, stuffed so full
that it threatened to burst the coarse stitches down one side.
His head felt confused and thick. His thinking apparatus would not work
properly, but seemed to be struggling to carry on the narrative of some
weary dream in which there had been snakes, heat, thirst, and riding,
till his bones seemed to ache and he felt sore all over.
It was very puzzling, and though he tried to make out where he was, he
could see nothing but that big sack.
After lying still for some minutes, his reasoning powers began to act,
and overcoming the disinclination to move, consequent upon his being so
horribly stiff, he gave himself a wrench and turned right over on his
other side.
This brought a little illumination, bodily and mental too, for the sun
was beating down upon his face making him raise his hand stiffly to
shade his eyes; and there before him lay Ned, flat upon his back, with
his mouth wide open.
The mist floating in his brain now began to disperse, and rising upon
one elbow he could see first one and then another of the party, lying
fast asleep in different attitudes with the packs belonging to the
expedition dotted-about anyhow, just as they had been released from the
mules' backs.
Then there were the bearers of the said packs about a couple of hundred
yards away, every one with its muzzle near the ground, browsing busily
at some kind of low, scrubby, greyish growth that looked like very dwarf
juniper, while in quite another direction, there they were--all six--
forming a group to themselves--the mustangs, their saddles still on and
the reins upon the ground, cropping away at the thin wiry grass that
clothed the sandy earth.
"Of course; I recollect now," thought Chris. "I went to sleep on my
pony, and must have fallen off without waking. Am I hurt?"
He screwed himself about and raised arms and legs, wincing a little the
while.
"Yes, I am hurt," he muttered. "I can hardly move, but I don't think
anything's broken: it's just as if the mules had been kicking me and the
ponies walking about on my chest."
His eyes wandered round again, and he sat up now with a start, the
aforesaid eyes dilating and the lids getting so wide that he showed a
good deal of white, while it seemed as if all the blood in his body had
rushed to his heart, so horrible were his thoughts. But he could see no
sign of rattlesnakes, and the heavy throbbing in his breast calmed down,
to give place to a sensation of pleasure, as he breathed in the fresh
elastic air and let his eyes rest upon a great blue mountain which
towered up above a clump of a dozen or so on one side and as many more
spreading away in a row, their tops looking like the teeth of a gigantic
saw. In fact, it was one of the ranges to which the old Spanish
settlers gave the name of Sierras.
"It is not what I dreamed about," said Chris to himself. "Let me see--
yes, that was of looking down into a glorious green valley with a
sparkling river running through and beautiful park-like prairies on each
side for the mules and ponies to graze in while we hunted and shot the
buffaloes. Of course; I remember it all quite clearly, and about our
going to bathe and drink, and--oh, how thirsty I am!"
"Why, there must be water here, or the animals wouldn't be so contented.
Get enough juice out of what they're eating, I suppose," he added,
after a few minutes' more thought. "Well, this is a hundred times
better than the salt desert, and there must be water in the valleys over
yonder. How blue it all looks! That doesn't seem as if there were
trees, because they'd look green. But there must be valleys because
there are mountains, and--Here, I say, Ned, don't snore like that," he
said aloud. "Wake up, lazy! It's ever so late."
His words having no effect, he reached out one foot and gave the boy
such a vigorous push that Ned sat up, staring.
"Who--Here, you, Chris, why did you kick me like that?" he cried.
"I didn't kick, only pushed. To wake you up. You can't sleep all day.
Oh, I say, what a face you've got!"
Ned, who had roused up at once, clapped his hands to the part of his
person alluded to, and retaliated.
"So have you got a face," he cried. "Why, it looks as if it had got a
crust of salt and sand all over it."
"So it has, I suppose," said Chris, rather gruffly, as he began to pat
his cheeks softly, rub his eyes, and then deal very tenderly with his
cracked lips. "Oh dear, shouldn't I like a swim, even if it was only in
a water-hole that was half mud!"
"But I say, Chris, look here. What about the rattlesnakes? Have we
left them all behind?"
"I hope so. There seems to be no sign of any here."
"And I say, this is quite a different sort of country. Look at the
mountains."
"I have."
"We must be all right then, now," continued Ned. "I began to think
yesterday that we were going to tramp along till the heat and thirst
were too much for us, and we had to lie down and die. I say, I
shouldn't have liked that."
"And you'll never find any one who would. Bother the old gold! It
would have been horrid. Better have gone on weeding in the plantation."
"Ever so much; but do you think the place marked in the plan is over
yonder?"
Ned pointed at the beautiful amethystine mountains, but Chris shook his
head.
"Don't look like the place; but never mind that now. Let's see about
breakfast."
The boys rose as if animated by one spirit, and stood looking round.
"What about a fire?" said Ned dismally.
"No wood," replied Chris, with a groan, and his voice made his father
start, look sharply round, and spring to his feet.
"Ah, boys!" he cried. "How long have you been awake?"
This question, loudly uttered, had the effect of a call to the other
sleepers, who rose to their feet to look about in a dazed and wondering
manner, but with signs of satisfaction dawning upon their countenances
as they grasped the improvement in their position.
"Yes," said the doctor, after a brief conversation, "the cattle are all
right, and will be able to go on after another hour's grazing; but there
is no water, I'm afraid, nearer than the mountains yonder."
"But there'll be plenty there, doctor," said Griggs confidently, "and I
don't see that we need wait for the animals to graze any more; they
haven't done much amiss by the state of their portmanteaus. We can halt
again when we like, and the pasture's sure to get better as we go along
towards the mountain-slopes. Would you mind getting out your glass?"
This was quickly done, and the American focussed it and stood gazing
long and intently at the distant range.
"Far as I can make out," he said at last, "there's river and valley and
forest yonder, sir."
"Forests with blue trees, Griggs?" said Chris.
"Forests with trees that look blue at this distance," replied the
American. "That last makes a wonderful difference in the look of
things. So do sunrise and sunset. Why, you've seen the woods look
orange and scarlet, haven't you?"
"Yes, of course," said Chris, looking abashed. "I forgot. But, I say,
if there were water there, shouldn't we see it glitter?"
"Not a bit. Don't you know how the rivers in these parts run down in
the canons? Why, I've seen a dozen or two that you didn't know were
there when you were a hundred yards away."
"And these may be ten miles off," cried Ned.
"Ten? Yes, quite that," said Griggs dryly.
"Ah, they're a long way off, Ned, my boy," said Bourne thoughtfully.
"How far do you make it, Griggs?"
"Well, sir, I should say it's a hundred miles from here to the highest
part of that peak."
"A hundred miles!" cried Ned.
"Yes, and a good sixty to the hills about the foot."
"Then we shan't get there to-day," said the doctor decisively.
"If we do half of it, sir, we shan't have done badly," replied Griggs;
"but in thirty miles I fancy we shall have reached water, and be in a
better country than we're in now, worse luck."
"What!" cried Chris.
"What I say, squire. We don't want to go dawdling about in pretty
places. We must go yonder for rest and water, say for a day or two, but
the old prospector's map won't fit in there."
"How do you know?" said Wilton sharply.
"Because if there'd been a landmark like that big peak anywhere near the
city he'd have been safe to mark it down."
"Of course," said the doctor thoughtfully. "Where should you think that
mountain is?"
"Don't know, sir, and I don't see that it matters to us in what State
the old temple and its treasure is. All we've got to do is to find the
wilderness that hides it away, and we may as well make up our minds that
it'll take all the patience we can store up. But what do you say about
our start, sir?"
"As soon as we have had something in the way of breakfast," replied the
doctor. "Unfortunately we can have no coffee. It seems impossible to
scrape together enough fuel to make a fire."
"Not till to-night, sir, but I think we might drink what water we like.
The horses and mules will be able to get along without."
"Yes, we might venture upon a tinful each before starting," said the
doctor.
That tinful each was the first part of the meal, and declared merrily by
both boys to have quite a rattle-snaky flavour. The solid portion of
the late breakfast was not appetising.
"But never mind, squires," cried Griggs cheerily; "we're going to get
game as we go along to-day. It'll be roast birds for dinner if you keep
your eyes open. I don't mean for the game."
"For what then?" asked Chris.
"The wood to cook it, my lad. We must carry the axe ready, and if we do
happen to come across a few shrubs they must be loaded on top of the
water-kegs, for the mule that carries them is getting to have a precious
light load, and he deserves a heavy one for causing us all that trouble
yesterday."
A very short time after they were going straight for the mountain--the
great peak forming their goal, and the doctor taking its bearings by
compass so as to know their route if mist should hide it, and when
darkness came on.
To the surprise of all, both ponies and mules stepped briskly and well,
the pasture upon which they had been busy having had a wonderfully good
effect. The hardy beasts seemed now to need no water, and made light of
their loads, while as the stiffness suffered by the riders passed off
with movement in the warm bracing air, the difficulties and perils of
the past seemed to die away.
Griggs proved to be right, too, before they had been two hours on the
way, for first one or two, then a covey of the large partridge-like
birds that haunted the open appeared, and as the day went on several
plump additions to their stores fell to the guns.
But the wood was so far wanting, and it was not until evening was
approaching that they came upon a scattered patch of trees, which grew
for a long distance in a meandering way, just one here and there, and
from which a sufficiency for their purpose was obtained; but the pasture
was no more plentiful, and they kept on, till all at once Griggs slapped
his hand down heavily upon his leg.
"Got it!" he cried.
"Got what?" exclaimed the doctor, and the boys stared.
"That idea. Can't you see, doctor? These trees have been all along on
our right for quite a time."
"Yes, that's plain enough," was the reply.
"And they go right on as far as we can see, wandering in and out, but
getting thicker."
"Yes, I can see all that, but I confess that I don't see what it has to
do with your excitement."
"Don't you, doctor?" cried Griggs. "Well, it means this: there's been a
watercourse here some time or other, and there's enough moisture
underground to keep these little scrubby trees alive."
"I see. It is possible."
"As it gets farther from the hills there are fewer trees, but as we
follow it up you can see they are getting thicker, and I believe that if
we keep on far enough we shall come upon grass and water, perhaps a
pool."
"Then we'll keep on," said the doctor, "certainly; and may you prove to
be right."
Griggs did prove to be right, for when the course of the trees had been
followed for about four miles, the party found themselves upon a marshy
patch of a vivid green, the trees they had followed ending at the very
edge. Pools of clear water were plentiful, and the banks and swampy
ground between them and the lakes were rich in deep green succulent and
coarse reeds and grassy patches such as cattle delight in.
A dry slope some fifty feet above the swamp was soon selected for the
temporary halt--a place which proved to be quite free from reptiles; and
here the mules were unladen, the fire was lit, and the boys joined
eagerly in the culinary preparations, all being eager to help in the
preparation of the evening meal.