oon as they left timber-line and,
following the row of tiny monuments set up by the foresters, entered
upon the wide and undulating stretch of low edges which led to the
summit. The air was clear and the verdureless shapes of the monstrous
peaks stood sharp as steel against the sky. The tender grass was filled
with minute glistening flowers. The wind was gentle, sweet, moist, and
cool.

"Pooh!" said Alice, "this is absurdly easy. Freeman has been telling us
dreadful tales all along just to be rid of us."

But she began to admit that her escort of four strong men was a comfort,
as the guide explained that this "rough country" had long been known as
the retreat of cattle-thieves and outlaws.

"Do you think there are any such men in here now?" asked Mrs. Adams.

"Undoubtedly," Ward said; "but I don't think, from the condition of this
trail, that they come in on this side of the range. I suspect it's too
lonely even for a cattle-thief."

They unsaddled that night on the bank of a stream near a small meadow,
and around the camp-fire discussed the trail which they were to take
next day. The guides agreed that it was "a holy terror," which made
Alice the more eager to traverse it.

"I like trails that make men quake. I welcome adventure--that's what I
came for," she said.

Early the next forenoon, as they were descending the steep north-slope
trail, Alice gave out a cry of pain, and Adams called to Ward:

"Hold on! Allie's horse is down."

Ward was not surprised. He rode in continual expectation of trouble. She
was forever trying short cuts and getting snared in the fallen logs.
Once she had been scraped from her saddle by an overhanging bough, and
now, in attempting to find an easier path down a slippery ridge, her
horse had fallen with her. Ward was ungracious enough to say:

"Precisely what I've warned her against," but he hurried to her relief,
nevertheless.

"Are you badly hurt?" he asked, as she stood before him, striving to
keep back her tears of pain.

"Oh no, not at all badly. My foot was jammed a little. Please help me on
to my horse; I'll be all right in a minute."

She put so good a face on her accident that he helped her into her
saddle and ordered the train to move on; but Peggy perceived that the
girl was suffering keenly.

"Sha'n't we stop, Allie?" she called, a few minutes later.

"No. I'll be all right in a few minutes."

She rode on for nearly half an hour, bravely enduring her pain, but