nted. Take him an' Leslie
up in one of the canyons an' keep them there till further orders. You
needn't stay, Stockton, after you get them in a safe place. An' you can
send up grub."

Then he turned to me.

"You'll not be hurt if--"

"Don't you speak to me!" I burst out. It was on my lips to tell him of
the letter to Washington, but somehow I kept silent.

"Leslie," went on Buell, "I'll overlook your hittin' me an' let you go
if you'll give me your word to keep mum about this."

Dick did not speak, but looked at the lumberman with a dark gleam in his
eyes.

"There's one thing, Buell," said Stockton. "Jim Williams is wise. You've
got to look out for him."

Buell's ruddy face blanched. Then, without another word, he waved his
hand toward the slope, and, wheeling his horse, galloped down the trail.

IX. TAKEN INTO THE MOUNTAINS

We climbed to another level bench where we branched off the trail. The
forest still kept its open, park-like character. Under the great pines
the ground was bare and brown with a thick covering of pine-needles, but
in the glades were green grass and blue flowers.

Once across this level we encountered a steeper ascent than any I had
yet climbed. Here the character of the forest began to change. There
were other trees than pines, and particularly one kind, cone-shaped,
symmetrical, and bright, which Dick called a silver spruce. I was glad
it belonged to the conifers, or pine-tree family, because it was the
most beautiful tree I had ever seen. We climbed ridges and threaded
through aspen thickets in hollows till near sunset. Then Stockton
ordered a halt for camp.

It came none too soon for me, and I was so exhausted that I had to be
helped off my mustang. Stockton arranged my blankets, fed me, and bathed
the bruise on my head, but I was too weary and sick to be grateful or
to care about anything except sleep. Even the fact that my hands were
uncomfortably bound did not keep me awake.

When some one called me next morning my eyes did not want to stay open.
I had a lazy feeling and a dull ache in my bones, but the pain had gone
from my head. That made everything else seem all right.

Soon we were climbing again, and my interest in my surroundings grew as
we went up. For a while we brushed through thickets of scrub oak. The
whole slope of the mountain was ridged and hollowed, so that we were
always going down and climbing up. The pines and spruces grew smaller,
and were more rugge