"Yes, you are awfully lugubrious, Verny. At home you are with us on any wildcat scheme," added Ruth.
"That"s it! It took a trip to the Rockies to show me what I was at home--for your wildcat schemes. Now I"m learning sense!" declared the Captain.
Mr. Kenmore had a brilliant idea, and he instantly followed it up. He brought the Indian guide who had paddled the canoe to camp, and introduced him to Mrs. Vernon, as his future mistress for the canoe trip.
The Captain saw the tall slender form, the fine muscular development of the Indian, and the polite demeanor. Then she said, "Have you been in the Rockies long?"
"Borned here. My fodder Chief of waterways in Colorado when she was territory and me lee"l boy." The Indian demonstrated how small he was at that time.
"John tells me he has spent the last twenty years on these streams flowing from the Rockies. So he can be depended upon," said Mr.
Kenmore.
That noon, the party wishing to cross the Divide rode away with the horses and two pack-mules, while the three Indian guides showed Mrs.
Vernon the route they proposed taking for the canoe trip. They would follow the creek that eventually emptied its crystal waters into Glacier Creek. But the latter had many fine tributaries, so they would follow one of these to a spot John knew of, where a short carry of a mile would bring them to a splendid river along which they could canoe for miles and miles.
The blankets and other necessities were carefully packed in the bottom of the canoes, and the slat frameworks for the flooring were laid down over them. Then the scouts divided their party and got into the three large canoes, with an experienced guide for each.
When they were once under way, Mrs. Vernon began to enjoy the trip as much as any one of the scouts. She leaned back comfortably in the canoe as she thought to herself, "What"s so enjoyable as this peaceful riding over placid waters, and pa.s.sing by Nature"s wonder-spots!"
The Indians thoroughly enjoyed canoeing, and the two boys, Tally and Omney, were delighted at the change of plan that made this water trip possible for them. The paddles were in capable hands, and the canoes responded instantly to every touch.
A stroke one way and the canoe would evade a snag thrusting its ugly head from the stream. A stroke the other way, and the pa.s.sengers quickly rounded a finger of land that jutted out into the water. Now and then a quick stroke, and a rock was pa.s.sed without sc.r.a.ping, and all was done so quietly that no undue fear was roused.
They rode under ma.s.sive overhanging rocks, glided past flat banks of land where gorgeous bloom offered sweetest nectar to bees and b.u.t.terflies. Then they would shoot by cliffs whose towering sides were bare and threatening, or were overrun with vines and topped with giant pines whose roots found a hold down on the other side of the rock.
Finally the current began to run swifter, and still swifter. The Captain sat, half-mesmerized by the swirling water as the canoe shot through it. She was in a delicious state of mind when a stifled scream from Julie, in the leading canoe, caused her to rouse instantly.
They were sweeping around a wooded curve in the stream, and just before them was a series of little rapids that foamed and frothed.
Farther on a narrow gorge was seen, and here the water doubled on itself and curled backward in its attempt to escape from the frowning walls of rock on either side.
Now the canoes were in the white churning waters! Now they were cutting through the foam, the wavelets striving to pile up and over the top of the canoes. The rapids roared as they flung themselves against the rocky wall just ahead, and the Captain murmured, "Oh, I hope no one runs into that!"
Then the three canoes were flying through the gorge, riding over the lapping waters, and now they were out again on the other side, gliding silently across a wide expanse of dark-green lake. And now the Captain heaved a sigh of relief and sent up a prayer of thanks for the protection.
The lake was quickly crossed, and again the three canoes were going down what seemed to be a chute. The scouts gasped at the speed, and grasped the edges of the crafts tightly. When the first canoe, managed by John, came to the spot, he called back a warning to the other two guides. And all three bent their muscles to the work in hand.
Suddenly, without other warning, Mrs. Vernon felt as if the canoe she sat in had dropped from under her--its flight was so swift that she scarcely realized the motion. Then--s-s-suash! down it came upon the top of the water again--but far ahead of whence it sprang. She turned to look at what could have caused this queer sensation and saw they had ridden a "rift."
The three Indians cheered and complimented the scouts for their courage in this their first rift. So the scouts understood that such things were mere joys to an Indian and nothing to be frightened about.
During the afternoon the line of canoes reached one of the wildest and most alluring spots in the mountains. The forest was not so dense here, the water was smoother, and the stream wider. The Indians were warning each other "Watch out!" so their pa.s.sengers were alert also.
No one wanted to miss a single thrill of this marvelous trip.
Now a sound as of thunder in the distance reached their ears, and the Captain wondered what it could be. As the canoes sped onward, the sound grew plainer and louder, and caused a clutch of fear at the throats of the girls. But the Indians smiled eagerly and allayed undue trepidation.
Then quite suddenly, coming out of a screen of overhanging verdure, the strange sounds broke into wild tearing, roaring, pulsating tones, and the canoes slid down upon the tawny yellow chute of a _real_ cataract!
The bulky black things that flashed up before the canoes, only to be as swiftly pa.s.sed by, were _rocks_! The queer, rocking, green-gold gla.s.s they were sliding upon was _water_! And then, as in the rift, after a sudden sinking as if through s.p.a.ce, they all rode out safely upon another deep quiet lake of dark-green water.
That night the Indians made camp on the moonlit sh.o.r.es of a marvelous lake. They had not bothered to stop for much dinner at noon, so every one was hungry by evening. Freshly caught fish, and the food that only an Indian can find and cook to perfection, made the scouts feel "like monarchs of all they surveyed."
Such thrilling experiences as John could tell, kept the scouts gasping until Mrs. Vernon suggested they had best go to bed if they wished to continue in the morning. The beds of sweet bracken made up by Tally never held more appreciative mortals than the scouts, after the entertainment furnished by John had ended.
For breakfast, there were wild ducks" eggs, found by Omney; stewed Indian potatoes, dug by Tally; Indian onions, discovered by John; and delicious coffee, brought by Mrs. Vernon. Then they cleared away all signs of the camp and proceeded along the way.
The second day of the canoeing there was no fear felt by any one, as the Indians had proved to be adequate for any emergency, and the canoes were splendidly constructed craft. In them the scouts shot rapids, rode down cataracts, bobbed about in whirlpools, and then--rode out upon quiet lakes laughing merrily in their nervous tension.
Finally Julie felt tired of sitting still, and asked to paddle. But the guides shook their heads. No amount of coaxing could make them turn over the paddles to other hands. The Indians knew their responsibility, and were determined to avoid trouble.
The third morning, Julie said, "We can paddle so well, Tally, and some of these lakes are as tame as dish-water."
"Den wait to dinnertime at camp!" said Tally, unthinkingly.
The rest of the morning was pa.s.sed in dodging great rocks, pa.s.sing through arched aisles, where the water cut a way through the timber, or again rocking perilously in a seething bowl of froth, to be shot out at the other side, and then ride along on smooth water.
That noonday they landed on a blossoming meadow for camp. The canoes were taken from the water and turned over on the beach, while the Indians hunted for food to cook for dinner. Two of them started for an inland pond where they saw flocks of wild duck, and John began to catch fish for cooking.
Mrs. Vernon took charge of the fire, and the scouts made bread, set the dishes out and did other ch.o.r.es. Julie and Joan had been sent to hunt for a fresh spring of water, and in pa.s.sing the canoes where they had been left, Joan said, "The lake"s like a millpond."
"I"d like to paddle across to the other side and climb that steep knoll. I bet there"s a fine view from there," said Julie.
"Verny would have a fit!" declared Joan, looking back but not seeing the camp, as the bank hid it from sight.
"It wouldn"t take long, and I"m dying to try these canoes," suggested Julie.
"Come on, then," responded Joan. "I suppose it"s safe."
"Of course, and Tally said we might try at noon-time."
"We"ll just shoot over and back again," said Joan, as the two girls managed to carry the canoe to the water.
No one saw them glide away, and no one missed them at first, as they were thought to be hunting for spring water. Then when dinner was ready there was no Julie or Joan to be found!
CHAPTER TEN
JULIE AND JOAN"S PREDICAMENT
It was all very well to talk about paddling across a quiet little lake, but it was another thing when one got into the swift current that ran past the rocky bluff where the girls wished to land. There was no shallow water anywhere, where they might get out and beach the canoe, so Julie paddled with the current for a distance, leaving the camp site far behind.
Joan kept gazing for a likely spot to anchor in, but there were none such. Then suddenly, the canoe was caught in a swirl of water that was caused by the outpouring of a creek, and Julie discovered that managing a large canoe built for Rocky Mountain waters was far different from steering a light craft across a home lake, or along the ca.n.a.l that ran through the town.
"Why are you going this way, Julie--why not stick to the sh.o.r.e line?"
asked Joan, as the canoe was driven along with the current.