A PACK HORSE IN DANGER
They had not gone far down the river the next morning when the
mountains on either side drew closer together, and the valley
narrowed greatly. Before they had gone far Hugh stopped, and,
turning, said to the boys as they came up, "I don't like the looks
of things ahead; I reckon we'll have to go up on the hillside down
below here. Looks to me like we were coming to a cañon."
A little farther along it proved so; and Hugh, after going ahead
and making a little investigation, called out to the boys to bring
on the animals. They found him on a narrow game trail, which began
to climb the hill among thick timber, where the trees stood so
close on both sides of the trail that it was evident that there
might be trouble in getting the packs along. Hugh got an axe out
of the pack, and, going ahead on foot, began to chop the branches
on either side, so as to make room for the loaded horses. Two or
three times he found small trees fallen across the trail, and, as
it was extremely steep, it was necessary to cut out each one of
these. Progress was slow, but after two or three hours they emerged
from the timber and could see ahead of them the trail leading
along a very steep hillside. Immediately below the trail grew
underbrush, and below that the rocks fell off sharply to the river.
From the hillside a number of little brooks and springs trickled
down, making slippery, muddy places in the trail over which it
was necessary to go carefully. Hugh several times called back to
the boys, saying, "Go slow along this place, and don't crowd the
animals; let each one take its time, and you boys go on foot. The
horses will follow all right."
There was nothing on the trail that was difficult for a man on foot
or for a careful horse, and for some time they went on very well,
and made good time; but in crossing a little brook which ran down
over the trail, and where there was a mud-hole, the bay horse,
pausing and putting down his head to investigate the trail, was
crowded upon by the dun and kicked back at him with both heels,
and when his feet came down they were over the edge of the trail,
and, trying to recover himself, he clumsily fell down and rolled
over once or twice. Just below the trail at this point there was
a big patch of stiff alders growing close to the steep hillside.
Jack saw the horse begin to fall, and, dropping his own bridle rein
and placing his gun on the hillside above the trail, he slipped by
the dun, and before the pack horse had turned over twice he had
caught it by its hackamore and checked it. In a moment Joe was by
his side, and the two hung on like grim death, and held the horse
there on its side, with its head a little up the hill. Meantime
Hugh had left his horse and come back along the trail, and in a
moment he too had hold of the horse's head. Fortunately, the horse
lay perfectly quiet, and neither slid nor rolled, his hips being
more or less supported by the alders. Hugh quickly unfastened the
hackamore, which gave all hands a better hold, and then said to
Jack, "Slip down there now, behind the horse, and see if you can
loosen that lash rope. If you can't, cut the lacing that holds it
to the cinch. We've got to get that pack off, or else lose the
animal. Don't get where the horse can hit you with his feet; reach
over his back."
The horse was lying on its off side, and it was impossible to
loosen the lash rope, but reaching over the back, Jack cut the
lacings of the lash cinch, so that the whole lash rope fell off.
"Now," said Hugh, "come back here and hang on to the hackamore."
Jack took Hugh's place, and Hugh quickly loosened the sling ropes,
and removing the packs from the saddle, carried them up to the
trail, and then along it a little distance until he reached a place
where the ground on the upper side sloped more gradually. Here he
deposited the packs one by one; then he took hold of the hackamore
again and said to Jack, "Go and get your rope and bring it here,
and tie it round this horse's neck in a bowline." When this had
been done, the end of the rope was passed round a small spruce
tree, which grew just above the trail, and then all three held the
rope, so that now the horse could not possibly roll down the hill,
unless the tree gave way, or the men let the rope go. While two of
them held the rope, Jack led the horses along the trail, until a
place was reached where it came out on a wider ledge, and leaving
them there returned. Then the pack horse was made to rise to its
feet, and without very great difficulty, assisted by the rope about
its neck, it climbed back to the trail and was led along to a place
where there was more room. Now, while Hugh mended the lash cinch,
the boys carried the packs along the trail to where it was wider,
and at length the horse was re-packed, and they started on.
While they were at work, Jack said to Hugh, "I want you to
understand, Hugh, that I didn't drive the dun onto that horse. The
dun came up behind him and stopped, and the bay kicked at him, and
lost his footing, and went over the side of the trail."
"I know," said Hugh, "I know; I was watching. It wasn't anybody's
fault, but the fool horse that tried to kill himself. You did
mighty well to get hold of him as quick as you did, and if it
hadn't been for that, if he'd made one more roll, he'd have gone
over the rocks, and we'd have lost him, and likely a lot of the
load he's carrying.
"We've got to look for things like this when we're travelling with
a pack train, and I'm mighty surprised that we've had as little
trouble as we have."
It was near sundown when Hugh stopped as they came out on a bench
of the hillside, and said: "I reckon we'll have to camp up here
to-night, boys. There don't seem to be any place where we can get
down to the river. There's good grass here for the horses and a
place where we can picket two or three of them, but I don't see any
water just here. Jack, you ride up the hill, and see whether you
can find anything that looks like a spring. Joe and I'll stop here
with the horses."
Jack had not ridden far, when, passing over a little ridge, he
found, issuing from a ledge of rock, a good spring, which ran down
into a little ravine, and calling to the others, they came up
there, unsaddled, and made camp. It was dark when supper was over,
and their talk was chiefly of the difficulties of the day, and the
narrow escape had by the pack horse.
"A man is bound to lose an animal in the mountains now and then,"
said Hugh, "not always through his own carelessness, but because
there's always some horses and mules that are fools. After all a
horse is nothing but a bundle of nerves, and if he gets scared and
loses his head, why he doesn't do anything but jump round and kick
and make things worse for himself. Now, that's where a good man
has the bulge on any dumb beast that ever was. A man, if he's got
sense, will stop and think, and reason, and try to find some way
out of his difficulty; but a critter doesn't do that. That's the
reason horses and mules and cattle stampede, and that's the reason
often that human beings stampede too; they lose their senses, and
become no better at all than just so many animals. We've always
got to keep our wits about us, be ready, and when anything happens
do the right thing, and do it right off--like you did to-day, son,
when you ran to grab that horse's head, and like you did too, Joe;
for I saw that you were both ready. You saved us the horse, and a
mighty good job it is.
"I remember one day, years ago, we lost our whole kitchen outfit
just through the foolishness of a mule. It was near Henry's Fork of
Green River, and I was guiding a lot of soldiers and bug hunters
up from the Unita agency. To get down into the valley we had to
follow down a mighty sharp crest that ran out between two deep
ravines. It was mighty narrow, and a terrible long way down on
either side, but there were no bad places in it; but a big bay mule
that carried the kitchen, in two big baskets, tried to turn round
and look at the rest of the train that were coming, and somehow
she caught her hind legs over the edge, and they slipped down,
and she hung a little while with her forefeet, but before any one
could get to her she let go, and she fell. She was dead long before
she struck the bottom, I guess, and the kitchen was all smashed
and broken up. I believe we did get some knives and forks and tin
plates out of the mess, but the plates were all battered, and had
to be hammered out on a tree with an axe before they would set on
the ground. It was one of the worst falls I ever saw an animal
take."
The next morning the horses were seen scattered all along the
hillside above the camp, and it took the boys some time to gather
and bring them in; and while they were doing this, a big doe,
followed by two little fawns, jumped up out of a patch of quaking
aspen, ran a short distance up above them on the hillside, and then
all three animals turning round stood looking at them, with their
great ears thrown forward. The boys stood for a few moments and
looked at her, and then she turned again and clambered still higher
up, only to stop again for another look. Neither felt any desire to
shoot at her.
The greater part of the day was devoted to working down stream
along the hillside. They found that they could travel with some
comfort on the benches, except when these were interrupted at
frequent intervals by deep ravines, cut out by streams coming down
from the hills, and the plunge down into these, and the subsequent
climb up the other side, was tiring to the animals. Also they had
to stop frequently to adjust the packs and tighten the saddles.
That night they camped again on the benches, and Hugh said, "I
believe we'll do as well to stop somewhere, if we can find a good
camp, and rest up for two or three days. These horses have been
having hard work now for some little time, and they'll get poor.
Besides that, this up and down work is awful hard on their backs,
and I think it would be a good idea to given 'em a rest. If we
can find a good camp to-morrow, any time in the day, as we're
travelling along, I think we better stop and rest up, or we can
stop right here. You boys might want to take a hunt or a fish. It's
nice weather now, and we're low enough down so that there's no
danger that the snow will catch us, and I think we can spare the
time."
"Well, Hugh," said Jack, "I think that's a pretty good idea. I'd
like to look over these hills and see what there is in them, and I
guess we'd all like to rest for a day."
The next few days were spent in this camp. Hugh was busy mending up
saddles and riggings, fixing blankets, and getting things in good
shape for their further journey, while Jack fished a good deal in
the river and took many trout.
One day while working around the edge of a large pool, and trying
to cover it all with his line, he found himself close to a steep
rocky wall, over which poured a fall six or eight feet high. He had
fished here for some minutes, when suddenly his eye caught a round
brownish-green bunch of something, resting on a little ledge close
to the falls and over deep water; and as he saw it he thought that
this must be a nest of the dipper. It was impossible to get close
to it, and remembering that it was now autumn and that the nest by
no possibility could contain anything, he reached over with his
pole, and pushing it from its position, it fell to the water and
was soon in his hand. He found it just what Hugh had described: a
bunch of moss, containing a chamber within, lined with dried grass
and a few feathers, and with a round hole at the front for the
passage in and out of the birds. It was a beautiful piece of bird
architecture, and he determined to take it with him and to try to
carry it back east.