stening one end of his lariat to a projecting stone
that resembled a saddle-horn. This done, he tried it, to make sure that
it would hold. Then he tossed the balance of the rope, loop and all,
over the edge.

"Does it reach down?" asked Mr. Mabie.

"Just gets there, and no more," replied Will, craning his neck to see.

Reddy flung himself over in what struck Will as a most reckless fashion;
but he discovered in time that these free riders of the ranches do
everything in that nervous manner. It is a country where men quickly
learn that often their lives depend on their ability to act promptly and
like a flash.

"He's down already," announced Will, half a minute later.

And it was not ten minutes before they saw the cowboy coming back again.
He had Frank's first mountain sheep upon his back, and though the way
was rough he jumped from stone to stone with surprising agility for one
who spent so much time in the saddle.

In due time the journey was resumed.

"How much further do we go?" asked Will, as he followed behind the
guide, Reddy.

"Here's the top of the ridge. Now you can see the other valley, and the
noise you hear is made by a cataract in the river. We camp just below
that. Fishing is good there, and I guess you'll like it," was the reply.

They soon headed down, and the end of their day's work seemed close at
hand. It can be easily assumed that none of the boys were sorry. Quite
unused to riding, they began to feel the effects already.

"I'm glad it's a camp after this. I've sure got a cramp in my legs that
it'll take a long time to get out," grunted Bluff.

"Rome wasn't built in a day, son. Each time you ride you'll notice that
cramp less and less, until after a month you will be entirely free from
it. But here we are at our journey's end, and I, for one, don't feel
sorry, because for ten minutes I've been scenting that coffee. The boys
have seen us coming, and started to have dinner cooked."

It proved to be just as Mr. Mabie said. A most appetizing camp dinner
was ready for them when they arrived. Perhaps Jerry and Frank may have
thought it did not fully come up to some similar feasts they had helped
prepare in the woods, but of course they never hinted at such a thing;
for those cowboys, while the most accommodating of fellows, were also
thin-skinned in some respects.

Will was fairly delighted at the romantic looks of the camp, back of
which the waterfall came tumbling down. He could hardly wa