friends, delighted beyond
measure, hurried forward on their journey.

They were now amply provided--each having a gun and plenty of
ammunition, and their faithful dog. They began to look upon themselves
as on a holiday excursion. The only thing was, that there was rather too
strong a tinge of danger about it. If they were but a hundred or two
miles nearer home, and their parents had no anxiety regarding them, it
would be more pleasant. But then, they could easily understand how much
worse it easily could be, and they were heartfelt at the good fortune
which had followed them thus far on their strange entry into California.
The most that they could ask was that it might continue.

Elwood and Howard were anxious to test their marksmanship, but prudence
forbade it, as the chances were that they would need all their
ammunition, and the report of their guns might draw inconvenient
attention to themselves.

They were walking cheerily along when a singular object caught their
eyes. At first sight it resembled an Indian hut; but it was much too
small to be inhabited by a human being, and therefore must have been the
handiwork of some animal.

"Shall we batter it down?" asked Elwood.

"No; we do not know what is in it, and there is no use of wantonly
destroying the home of any dumb creature."

"It reminds me of me birthplace in ould Ireland," said Tim, with a sigh.

But Terror was not so considerate as his masters; for bursting forward
he placed his snout at the lower orifice, snuffed furiously, and then
clawed so savagely that the greater part of the singular fabric came
tumbling to the ground. It was made of brush and twigs, and like
everything constructed by instinct, was put together with great skill.
Terror could not be restrained until he had inflicted great injury.

"Look! what are they?" exclaimed Howard in astonishment. "What
strange-looking creatures!"

"Snapping tortles!" replied Tim, staring with an expression of the
greatest astonishment at the objects.

Three animals, about the size of a musk-rat, with webbed feet, and the
color of mice, came scrambling forth and scampered away for the shelter
of the rocks.

Terror by this time had been brought under restraint, and was prevented
from crushing them to death as they ran.

Great speculation was caused by their appearance, as none of our friends
had seen anything like them, nor had they ever heard or read of such.
They were, in fact, a species of mounta