es in the summer time
never cease their eternal and restless quiver and upon whose smooth
trunks were Indian signs galore. On the larger and older trees could be
found those subtle knifecuts, conveying intelligence through
representations of chickens, horses, snakes, hatchets, knives, guns,
arrows and other characters which in the past had warned of the
approaching enemy or told of the chase, of the success or the defeat not
only of Utes, but of Sioux, Apaches, Arapahoes and Kiowas. Many an hour
had Jack spent in studying these trees which are scattered over the
Rocky Mountain region, bearing whole histories, trees generally found
within an altitude of 6,000 to 8,000 feet above sea level.

It was not long after passing through this belt that they came to the
south hillsides, whose slopes were free from snow and where the runways
for deer, elk and mountain sheep became more and more numerous. Stocky
little cedar trees stretched forth their long arms over the trail,
sending forth fragrance of lead-pencils and giving a slap on the face if
the rider neglected to duck in season to avoid the branch. Entering a
sage-brush covered mesa, immense jack-rabbits bounded hither and
thither, sage hens flew up with a whir of their wings and the shrill
scream of an eagle greeted their ears as if to warn them against
entering his domain. As the trail led them nearer and nearer to the
banks of a good sized creek the ponies became restive, and finally the
pack animal resorted to that well-known method of suggesting that it was
time to make camp by "bucking"--not a stop in the bucking process until
blankets, bags and bundles were scattered for a mile over the sage-brush
flat. It was an hour's work for both Jack and Chiquita to get the
plunder together and again pack it on the refractory cayuse, and it was
all the more aggravating, as it was only a couple of miles from the spot
selected for camp.

Arriving at a bend in the creek--rather it was a fair sized river--they
proceeded to make the best of everything at their command. There was a
space along the edge of the river about two hundred feet wide, covered
here and there with wild rye, at the roots of which was dried buffalo
grass. This strip of land ran back to a canon wall, a precipice some
forty feet high, sheer and without foothold for even a wildcat. Thick
willows grew along the base of this wall, and it was but a few minutes
after the ponies were relieved of their saddles ere Jack ha