THE BLIZZARD ON GRIZZLY SLIDE
As the adventurers advanced up the mountainside, the pines grew closer
until it was almost impossible to ride between the great trees that
crowded on either side of the faint trail.
"Polly, I don't see how we can go much farther!" said Anne, who had
never before been as high as this.
"Oh, we are only one-third of the way up, Anne," smiled Polly, swinging
Noddy suddenly to one side to avoid a bowlder of rock that had rolled
upon the trail.
After more arduous climbing, the horses unexpectedly came out into a
vast clearing, called a "park" by the natives. It was acres in extent,
fringed about by the heavy close growth of pines. The girls exclaimed
at the beauty of the spot, for wild-mountain flowers grew profusely
among the thick buffalo grass.
"Now, then, every one of you start at this point and hunt for the
trail. I haven't been here since last summer when we went for that
trapper and his pelts. I didn't look for the blaze then, but it was
here, so we must find it to help us find the way out!" called Polly, as
she guided Noddy slowly past the fringe of forest trees, looking
carefully at each tree.
"Goodness, Polly! Do you ever expect to find an opening in this tangle
of trees?" asked Barbara.
"We can if Polly says there's one!" declared Anne, riding her horse
carefully in the opposite direction from Polly.
Eleanor permitted her burro to follow after Polly, as she hadn't the
slightest idea of what the blaze or trail would look like.
Consequently, she was directly behind Polly when she shouted, "I've
found it!"
The other girls wheeled their horses and galloped over to the place
where Polly was swinging the ax about her head.
With several good whacks, she chopped down enough young aspens to clear
a way through the brush, thus exposing to view an old tree bearing a
blaze over twenty years old.
"I'll show you how to count the age," said Polly, beginning at the
outer bark and counting the rings plainly lined from the new bark into
the tree until she reached the place where the blaze had been made.
"How interesting! Then that means this trail was made twenty years
ago!" said Barbara.
"Maybe twenty times twenty years ago, for all we know. Nobody really
knows how old this trail is, for it was used by the Indians as far back
as the oldest trappers and hunters know and have heard tell from their
fathers and grandfathers!" replied Polly, swinging into the saddle and
telling Noddy to proceed.
The little burro obediently went into the seemingly impassable thicket,
the other horses following. After they had traveled for ten or fifteen
yards, the undergrowth thinned until they were going on
pine-needle-covered ground as soft as moss. The silent forest with its
sentinel pines, spreading a canopy overhead, seemed like another world
from the bright glare of the one left behind that morning.
The trees were so tall and majestic, with great fragrant green tops
that scarcely allowed a sunbeam to penetrate to the pale green twilight
underneath, that a solemn peace pervaded the minds of the young
adventurers. The singing of birds, or the crackling of dry twigs, as
wild creatures sprang over them, were the only sounds heard.
No shrubs or vegetation obstructed this impressive place, so the girls
rode on in silence, until the trail ascended again. Near the confines
of this forest, Polly suddenly reined in Noddy and held out a warning
hand. Right across their pathway sped a young deer. It paused by the
side of a sheltering pine-trunk, with head erect and fore-foot poised
gracefully, gazing steadily at the strange creatures who dared intrude
upon those sacred precincts!
It as suddenly vanished again, and the girls breathed deeply.
"Oh, for our camera!" cried Eleanor.
"How stupid of us to leave it home," added Barbara.
"It's always the way. Who remembers a kodak until it is needed,"
laughed Anne.
"John promised to bring me a fine camera this summer, but he never came
home from college, so I didn't get it," said Polly, wistfully.
"Haven't you one, Poll?" wondered Eleanor.
"Not yet."
"It's a shame--and you with such wonderful ways to use it. The moment
we get home, I shall give you my new one, and you can give me some
prints from it in exchange," said Eleanor, generously.
"Why, Eleanor Maynard! Yours is brand new and cost forty dollars!"
cried shocked Barbara.
"Of course it's new! Would I give my best friend a second-hand thing?"
retorted Eleanor.
"Oh, Nolla, it's awfully good of you but I wouldn't think of taking
it!" exclaimed Polly, gratefully.
"If you don't I'll give it to Sary, and then you can look for trouble!
She'll snap pictures of Jeb at dinner, of Jeb at the pump, and Jeb
here, there, and everywhere!"
The girls laughed merrily at the pictures outlined, and the camera was
forgotten.
After climbing for two hours more, Noddy wrinkled his nose and twitched
his sensitive ears.
"Noddy scents water. See, Choko is acting the same way," called Polly;
and sure enough both burros were making faces at the sky-line.
In a short time the riders reached another Park but this one was not
half the size of the first. Instead of encircling forest trees, the
girls saw giant up-thrusts of rock that deft the blue sky. On each side
of the widened trail stood lodge-pole pine that ran up to the summit
and down the other side of the peak.
"At last--Top Notch Trail!" exclaimed Polly.
"You seem relieved?" ventured Anne.
"I am, because I half-doubted whether I would remember the right route
without an older guide."
"When in doubt don't do anything," suggested Eleanor.
"If we didn't do anything we wouldn't have been up here," argued Anne.
"This trail runs straight to Grizzly Slide, a glacial peak I've always
wanted to see. Father never had time to take me and mother wouldn't
allow me to find it alone. Explorers say it is a permanent glacier that
seldom changes its form as most of our other snow-capped peaks do in
summertime."
"How I'd love to see it!" sighed Eleanor.
"It sounds as if we were in Switzerland about to visit the Alps," added
Barbara.
"Have you any plans for to-day, Polly?" asked Anne.
"Nothing particular. I thought we would try for this trail and have
dinner up here, then do whatever you liked before starting for home."
"How long might it take to ride along the top and hunt for Grizzly
Slide?" asked Eleanor eagerly.
"I'm not sure of the distance, although I hear it is four miles from
Four Mile Blaze. From here to the blaze may be one or ten miles, but
the going is fine on this trail," replied Polly, eagerly showing her
inclinations.
"I simply won't consider going back home yet!" declared Eleanor.
"We might go on a bit further before eating, and then we can see what
the trail is like. If we decided to try for the Grizzly
Something-or-other Poll mentioned, I'll agree, all right!" ventured
Anne, the gleam of adventure shining in her eyes.
"I'm the only molly-coddle in the crowd and I'd like to see more of
this mountain, myself," laughed Barbara.
"'Nuff said,' when Barbara talks like that!" laughed Eleanor.
So they continued along the crest of the mountain from which grand
views of distant peaks and vast forest-sides could be seen. The
brilliant hues of wild flowers, everywhere, mottled the ground; the
dark-green of towering pines, or again the shorter aspens like pickets
on guard in the foreground; the bleached skeletons of lodge-pole pine
burnt clean in forest fires; and just before the riders, the plunging
water falling from a cliff that shut out any glimpse of the trail
ahead, combined to produce a master-piece of Nature's work.
"Why not camp at those Falls for dinner?" asked Eleanor.
"Good idea--I'm half-starved," admitted Anne.
"And maybe the horses can rest, too," from Barbara.
"Bob's going to join the S.P.C.A. soon," laughed Eleanor.
"No, I'm not, but horses will last longer if you feed and rest them,
and I do not care to walk home!" retorted Barbara.
"I brought my fishing tackle, girls, and while you are unpacking dinner
I may as well cast for a few trout in that stream," suggested Polly.
"Can you fish trout?" exclaimed Barbara, wonderingly.
"Can a bird fly?" laughed Anne.
"The idea! A westerner and _not_ know how to fish!" scorned Eleanor.
But Barbara was not sensitive to-day so did not feel offended at these
remarks; neither did she take pains to disguise her real sentiments
when it would have been kinder to keep silence on a subject.
Having reached the base of the cliff, the girls found a delightful spot
for the luncheon. The packs were slipped from Choko and he, with the
other mounts, were hobbled and left to graze on the buffalo grass in
the clearing.
The girls unpacked a pannier while Polly arranged her tackle and
started for the top of the cliff whence fell the water.
"Let me go with you, Poll, and watch?" asked Eleanor.
"If you won't speak, and mind you don't slip and fall!"
"I won't," promised Eleanor, crawling up after the sure-footed Polly
until both reached the top. To their surprise, the girls found a cleft
between two great rocks with a quiet pool resting at the base. The
current passed, rushing onward to the Falls, but the water circulating
in the nook scarcely rippled. Even as the two girls watched, a flash of
a speckled back flounced up in play and splashed their shoes.
"_What_ a spot for trout!" whispered Polly, crawling out to the rim of
a rock while Eleanor watched breathlessly.
"Not too far out, Poll!" whispered Eleanor, anxiously, as Polly leaned
over the edge to gaze into the clear depths.
Without a word, Polly carefully cast her fly far out upon the smooth
surface of the sparkling water. Then flashes deep down, and in
incredibly short time a large speckled trout rose to the bait, and
Polly felt her nerves tauten with the excitement of the sportsman.
Eleanor held her breath for fear the trout would disappear.
Polly landed that one, weighing at least three pounds, then caught two
more, weighing about two pounds each.
"Guess these will be enough for this noon. No use catching more than we
need!" remarked Polly, coming back to Eleanor's side.
The girls hastened down the rocks and brought the fish over to the
place where Polly expected to find a good fire burning.
"Why, I don't see any fire--didn't you build one for the fish?" cried
Polly.
"You didn't tell us to! Anyway, what would we make it with--no matches
and no kindlings!" replied Barbara.
"Can't you girls start fire with flint--or some sticks?" asked Polly,
curiously.
"The only fire I can light is with a safety match and the valve of a
gas-stove!" replied Barbara, quaintly.
The others considered her remark very funny and Polly promised to teach
them how to make a fire with two sticks only!
"Do it now, and fry the fish for us!" said Eleanor.
"No, it will be too late for us to begin all that now. We had better
wait until supper-time. We really ought to be on the trail by this
time," said Polly.
"Child alive! You don't intend being out in the woods at supper-time,
do you?" gasped Barbara, fearfully.
Polly laughed. "Is that so fearful? Why, I think it is piles of fun to
camp out on a fine night!"
"Maybe you do, but remember the rattle-snake! We may be sleeping on the
ground when one comes along-_Oh,_ OH!" cried Barbara, shivering.
"Oh, come now, Bob! No use conjuring up such gruesome pictures to
tickle your nerves!" exclaimed Eleanor, impatiently.
"If you don't want to go on to Grizzly Slide, now's the time to say so!
When we get there it will be too late to complain about the lateness of
the hour in getting home!" said sensible Polly. "Oh, we all want to go
to Grizzly Slide!" asserted Anne, hastily.
"And we will take everything that comes with it!" declared Eleanor,
eagerly.
"Well, all right, but for the love of goodness, don't let's camp in the
wilderness all night!" cried Barbara.
They sat down after that discussion and ate the sandwiches and fruit,
but Polly wanted a piece of the chocolate cake she thought Sary had
packed for them.
"I couldn't find any! We looked through and found only sandwiches in
the papers," said Anne.
"Oh, pshaw! I was sure there was cake!" grumbled Polly.
"It may possibly be in the bottom of the other pannier, as we didn't
unpack everything, you know," suggested Barbara.
"If it is, we'll eat it to-night for supper. At least we know Sary
packed _something_ good for us," added Anne.
Once more on the trail, the adventurers rode through forests where the
notes of unseen birds blending with the murmur of pines sounded like
weird music to the city girls.
"Just like the sea's roar in a conch-shell, isn't it?" whispered Anne,
as she listened rapturously.
They passed tumbling, hurrying mountain streams where the burnished
trout flashed swiftly back and forth in the clear water. They came to
an upland park where the soft whistle of quail caused Polly to lift her
rifle, but the whir of wings told of a flight. From jagged rents in the
cliffs, through which the horses passed, their hoofs ringing echoes
from the iron-veined rock, they came to sleepy hollows where the Quaker
Aspens stood ghostlike as sentinels on guard before their beautiful
Eden.
Having climbed one peak and descended it, then the next one, and so on,
and on, following the winding trail that became more difficult to find
and more dangerous to climb, Polly finally drew rein beside a tree
distinctly scarred.
"Hurrah! The blaze to the Slide," shouted she, scraping away the lichen
that covered the spot.
Glad of an excuse to jump down and stretch their limbs, the other girls
joined Polly at the tree and saw the blaze, although so old, to be
perfectly plain and easily traced.
"Four miles to Grizzly Slide!" read Polly, exultantly.
"But it must be three o'clock or more. When can we hope to get back
home?" murmured Barbara, glancing down the trail they just left.
"Too late to worry about that now," said Eleanor.
"I plan to see Grizzly Slide and then camp somewhere," said Polly.
"That is the best thing, now," added Anne.
"You don't mean to sleep out in this awful wilderness, do you?" gasped
Barbara.
"No, we're going to engage a suite of rooms at the 'Queen Victoria' for
to-night!" jeered Eleanor.
"I hope to reach the Slide and ride back to those Falls for camp. We
have fish and pasture and soft moss there," said Polly.
"Ideal place, too," approved Anne.
"But the wild beasts, and, oh, suppose a rattler comes along while we
are asleep?" almost sobbed Barbara.
"He'll steer clear of you, Bob!" retorted Eleanor.
"Come on, girls, don't waste time arguing, or we'll camp on top of the
peak, yonder," laughed Polly, jumping back into her saddle and urging
Noddy along the way.
Although Grizzly Slide was but four miles from the blaze, the trail was
so rough that the horses had to go slowly. Too, the rarefied air
strained the animals' hearts and Polly advised frequent halts to rest
the heavily breathing beasts.
During those four miles, the trail often opened from the heavy timber
and gave a glimpse of far-off valleys, and dreadfully nearby abysses
that made one feel that one was on top of the world. Even the pines in
the nearer crests and clefts looked like wisps of green--so small they
appeared from the tremendous height.
The trail finally led through a thick forest of lodge-pole pine that
looked interminable, but suddenly ended at a line as if it had been
purposely cleared away. The riders all sat in silent awe at the sight
before them. They had reached Grizzly Slide!
The snow-capped peak, reaching an altitude, from the clearing where
they stood, of at least a thousand feet sheer up, dazzled their eyes in
the bright sunshine. To the left of the peak, the sides dropped down
almost perpendicularly to the level floor of a valley many thousand
feet below. To the right, the snow-fields stretched across a vast area
before any timber could be seen on the downward slope.
The snow of the Slide was continually melting in summer and furnishing
icy streams that cut through in every direction to reach the vales far
down. The temperature was almost at freezing point near the peak, and
the girls quickly donned their sweaters which had been packed in
Choko's panniers.
In removing the sweaters, Polly accidentally pulled out a heavy coil of
rope, but hung it back on one of the knobs of Choko's harness instead
of buckling it inside the pocket. Well she did, too.
"Come on, girls, I want to see what that blue line is over on the
ice-field," said Polly, starting up the Slide.
The horses were sharp-shod and sure-footed, so the girls rode as safely
as if on the mossy trail, but they had not gone far before Polly began
murmuring to herself.
"What's the matter?" wondered Anne, aloud.
"That blue line looks to me like a crevice in the ice."
"What of that?" asked Barbara, stupidly.
"That shows something queer! This slide seldom cracks into fissures,
but when it does it means trouble. If that crevice goes down very deep
it shows unusual warmth underneath. And that may move this upper
section of ice-field any time, thus creating an awful land-slide, don't
you see?"
"Oh, mercy! Let's hurry back!" cried Barbara, wheeling her horse
immediately.
"It isn't likely to occur as quickly as that, Bob," said Anne,
soothingly. Then turning to Polly, said: "But this slide is said to be
stationary."
"It _has_ moved, but so seldom that folks never fear it. I know
something about land-slides after living in Pebbly Pit for fourteen
years, and even a little slide at the lava cliffs causes an awful
destruction, so I can picture what this gigantic slide would do if it
ever got started down!"
"You said it happened when Montresor's Mine was buried?" reminded
Eleanor.
"Yes, a small one then, and it may happen again, so we won't stay
another moment," begged Barbara, from a distance.
"It's all right at present, Bob, and I'm going to see if the chasm runs
along very far," returned Polly, riding Noddy away from the girls.
Anne and Eleanor watched the blinding peak where clouds drifted lazily
about so that the top of the crest was visible only now and then. At
such times, the sun flashed upon the ice and reflected myriad colors as
in a rainbow.
"Isn't it just beautiful!" sighed Anne.
"As wonderful and beautiful as his Satanic Majesty!" declared Eleanor,
but she anxiously watched Polly ride along the brink of the fissure.
"Oh, girls! Won't you please come home! I won't be easy till my horse
is traveling that corduroy road again!" wailed Barbara.
The others laughed. "You complained about _that_ when we crossed it.
The time may come when you'd be glad to be standing on Grizzly
Slide--after it has slid!" teased Eleanor.
"Now I'm going back! So there!" threatened Barbara, but she remained
exactly where she was, for she feared to go back alone.
"Well, it looks as if we would have to return unrewarded. I can't find
a place safe enough to cross to the peak, and the crevice seems to run
all the way across and deep down, too," said Polly, coming back to join
Anne and Eleanor.
"Now will you come back?" nagged Barbara, desperately.
"In a minute! We want to watch those rainbow-tinted clouds--they are so
beautiful!" sighed Anne.
But even as she spoke, the fleecy clouds of snowy white changed quickly
to gray. From gray they turned to dark ominous-looking colors, and
Polly hastily glanced at the sun.
"Let's ride back at once!" said she shortly.
[Illustration: NODDY LED THE WAY TO TIMBER AS THE BLIZZARD BEGAN ANEW.]
Noddy was turned and urged to lead off as fast as possible, but Polly
turned every few moments to watch the clouds now gathering in somber
banks and falling down over the Slide.
"Girls, make more haste!" ordered she.
"What's the matter, Poll?" called Anne, who was in the rear.
"I want to get you-all to the timber line just as fast as we can
travel. Don't waste breath talking--just _ride!"_ cried Polly,
fearfully.
"I told you to come home. I knew something terrible would happen up
here!" wailed Barbara, trying to push her horse, by leaning far over
his neck.
"Yes, you always were a Calamity Jane. If we'd left you down with the
rattle-snake we wouldn't have been so hoo-dooed!" cried Eleanor, in her
nervousness.
"Noddy, dear, won't you go faster? We must set a better pace for the
others, you see, pet!" said Polly to her little burro.
Apparently Noddy understood the need of a brisker step, for she started
so that she soon out-distanced the others and Polly had to wait for
them. As she waited impatiently, she watched the clouds sweeping down
and along over the ice-fields. Then she remembered the rope hung on
Choko's collar. She jumped off, grabbed it, and soon had Choko securely
fastened to the end of the rope. Another loop was fastened to Noddy's
collar. As the others rode up she tied a loop to each mount so that a
chain was made of the five animals.
"Is it a blizzard or a tornado, Poll?" gasped Anne.
"Don't know! Just race on as fast as you can!"
Then as they hurried across the icy slope, the sun seemed suddenly
quenched and the daylight turned to sodden drab. Heavy drifts of snow
could be seen falling headlong from the clouds hanging about the peak,
making a wonderful if awesome sight.
"Girls, our lives are in jeopardy unless we reach the timber belt!"
shouted Polly, trying to outcry the wind that shrieked down the Slide.
Noddy, brave little burro, quivered in dread of the elements sweeping
about them, but she responded to Polly's call and fairly dragged the
trembling Choko after her.
The hurricane was now screaming about the peak and howling horribly
through the fissures in the ice. As the blizzard gathered fury and
strength, the clouds, like rags torn from the sky, raged past the
riders, every now and then sweeping the snow completely over them.
Still the full fury of the gale had not yet appeared.
Polly stopped momentarily and yelled back her orders: "Every one grab
hold on the tail of the horse in front of you!"
They comprehended the sense of this advice, but could not manage to act
upon it, as the drifts of snow and ice made it impossible to jump from
the saddle, or lean over to hold to anything.
By this time, everything was hidden from sight and even the foremost
rider looked ghostlike in the gray light and snow. The trail was
obliterated by the drifts and the going was slippery and slow.
"We've simply _got_ to make that timber, girls!" shouted Polly, more to
encourage than to urge, as she knew the beasts were doing their utmost.
The three other girls, too cold and frightened to speak, clung to their
animals hopelessly. Noddy seemed imbued with supernatural powers, for
she never made a miss-step or swerved from the trail, although it was
invisible. This instinct of scent, so marvelous in these little burros,
proved the salvation of the adventurers.
Then darkness fell completely and the storm broke loose in its fierce
madness, so confusing the chain of horses that they stamped and turned
until the rope was so tangled that the riders were threatened with
being thrown. Even in that awful moment, Polly was glad she tied the
beasts to-gether, for surely one or another of them would have bolted
or strayed to doom with its rider.
Noddy seemed the only animal to keep her sense. As the other horses
snorted and wheeled, Polly cried desperately:
"Noddy, Noddy! Can't you help us out?"
With a tremendous spurt of strength the little burro pulled herself
free from the tangle, dragging Choko along, too. The other horses soon
calmed down again and followed in the wake.
A glassy surface had formed over everything, so that a slip would prove
extremely dangerous on that steep slide, but Noddy plodded along as if
she knew that the responsibility of all depended upon her accuracy in
trailing. The girls had to trust blindly to the burro's sixth sense, as
no one could see whether a yawning chasm or a rocky projection was
directly before them.
"Polly, I'm falling! I can't stick on another moment!" cried Anne, her
voice reaching Polly, as the wind blew in that direction.
"Anne Stewart--you _must!_ We're right at the timber-line now, and I'd
be ashamed to say you gave in before Barbara!" shrilled Polly, to give
her friend new endurance.
"I'm all in, too!" wailed the plaintive voice of Eleanor.
"Oh, dear God, tell me what to do?" screamed Polly, as if she must
_make_ the Almighty hear and help.
Just as all seemed at its worst, the wind suddenly died down, and the
gloomy mantle of darkness lifted perceptibly. Polly felt sure the
cessation of wind and sleet was but a lull before a second and worse
cloud-sweep, but she made the most of the interval.
"One more step, girls, and we are safe! Keep up courage!"
To Noddy she crooned anxiously: "Now or never again, little one!"
Noddy turned momentarily to look into her beloved mistress's eyes as if
to plead for breath and a moment's rest, and then she responded to the
call of necessity and led the staggering line to the timber just as the
gale began anew.
It was darker in the forest of lodge-pole pine than out on the
ice-field, but the timber offered comparative refuge from the driving
sleet and wind. Another difficulty presented itself, however, in the
close growth of trees. To avoid collision with the crowded trunks, it
became necessary to undo the rope that held the five beasts together.
Each was thus allowed to roam his own way, and this was the more
hazardous, as the hurricane ofttimes tore up a smaller pine and,
twisting it about like a cork-screw, flung it down like a straw.
Noddy seemed possessed to travel in a certain direction, so Polly, sure
of a burro's instinct for shelter and refuge, gave her her head.
Eleanor's burro also seemed anxious to go in the same direction Noddy
took, and followed in her footsteps. But Choko, freed from the
detaining rope and not so worn by battling the gale with a rider to
carry, made for a spot to the right of Noddy.
Suddenly Eleanor screamed and pointed at Choko. "Oh, look quick! Choko!
Choko!"
Even as she cried, Choko was seen frantically scrambling on the verge
of a cliff, and suddenly vanished over its side.