The girls followed quickly after Mr. Vernon, just the same, when he led the way to the dining-room. Here he had his party seated in a quiet corner, and then he reported to Mr. Gilroy all he had done since he landed in Denver in the morning.
"I have the surprise of the season for the scouts, I"m thinking,"
began Mr. Vernon, smiling at the eager faces of the girls. "Have you formed _any_ idea of how we are going to travel to the Divide?"
Even Mr. Gilroy wondered what his friend meant, for he had asked Tally to secure the best horses possible in Denver. And the scouts shook their heads to denote that they were at sea.
Mrs. Vernon laughed, "Not on foot, I trust!"
"No, indeed, my dear! Not with shoe leather costing what it does since the war," retorted Mr. Vernon.
"We all give up,--tell us!" demanded his wife.
"First I have to tell you a tale,--for thereby hangs the rest of it.
"You see, Tally came here first thing this morning, and when I came in from my train, which was an hour late from Chicago, he greeted me. I hadn"t the faintest idea who he was until after the clerk gave me the wire from Gilly, then I saluted as reverently as he had done. Finally his story was told.
"It seems "Mee"sr Gil"loy" told Tally to get outfit and all the horses, including two mules for pack-animals (although I never knew until Tally told me, that mules were horses). And poor Tally was in an awful way because he couldn"t find a horse worth shucks in the city of Denver. I fancy Tally knows horseflesh and would not be taken in by the dealers, eh, Gilly?" laughed Mr. Vernon.
Mr. Gilroy nodded his head approvingly, and muttered, "He is _some_ guide, I tell you!" Then Mr. Vernon proceeded with his tale.
"Well, Tally got word the other day from his only brother, who runs a ranch up past Boulder somewhere, that a large ranch-wagon, ordered and paid for several months before, was not yet delivered. Would Tally go to the wagon-factory, and urge them to ship the vehicle, as the owner was in sore need of it this summer.
"Tally had gone to the factory all right, but the boss said it was impossible to make any deliveries to such out-of-the-way ranches, and the railroad refused freight for the present. Poor Tally wired his brother immediately, and got a disconcerting reply.
"He was authorized to take the wagon away from the manufacturer and send it on by _any route_ possible. But the brother did not offer any suggestions for that route, nor did he provide means by which Tally could hitch the wagon up and send it on _via_ its own transportation-power or expenses.
"Fortunately for Tally, and all of us, a horse-dealer had overheard the story and now joined us. "Scuse me fer b.u.t.tin" in," he said, "but I got some hosses I want to ship to Boulder, and no decent driver fer "em. Why cain"t we-all hitch up our troubles an" drive "em away. Let your Injun use my hosses as fur as Boulder, and no charge to him. He drives the animals to a stable I"ll mention and c"lect fer feed and expenses along the road, but no pay fer himself,--that"s squared on the use my beasts give you-all."
"I ruminated. Here we were with Tally who had a wagon on his hands and no horses, and here was a dealer with four horses and no wagon. It sure seemed a fine hitch to make, so we all hitched together. So now we are all starting early in the morning _via_ a prairie schooner to Boulder. How do you like it?"
A cry of mingled excitement and delight soon told him what the scouts thought of the plan, but Mr. Gilroy remarked, "But what am I to do about horses for the rest of the jaunt?"
"Oh, Tally says he can drive much better bargains with ranchers than in the city here, and the horses trained for mountain climbing by the ranchers are far superior to the hacks that have been used for years to trot about Denver City. So I decided to put it right up to Tally, and he agreed to supply splendid mounts for each one of us, or guide you free of charge all summer," said Mr. Vernon.
CHAPTER TWO
VIA A "PRAIRIE SCHOONER"
Imagination had painted for the scouts a most thrilling ride in a prairie schooner, but they learned to their sorrow that the great ranch wagon built for travel over the heavy western roads and rough trails, was not quite as luxurious as a good automobile, going on splendid eastern state roads.
Ranch wagons are manufactured to withstand all sorts of ditches and obstructions in western roadways. They are constructed with great stiff springs, and the wheels have ma.s.sive steel bands on still more ma.s.sive rims. Into such a vehicle were packed the baggage and camping outfits that were meant to provide lodging and cooking for the party for the summer.
The four strong horses, which were to be delivered to a dealer in Boulder, pulled the wagon. Tally understood well how to drive a four-in-hand, but the going was not speedy, accustomed as the pa.s.sengers were to traveling in fast automobiles.
Tally took the direct road to Boulder because it was the best route to the Rocky Mountain National Park, where Mr. Gilroy wished to examine certain moraines to find specimens he needed for his further work.
The wagon had rumbled along for several hours, and the tourists were now in the wonderful open country with the Rockies frowning down upon them from distant great heights, while the foothills into which they were heading were rising before them.
The road they were on ran along a bald crest of one of these foothills. Turning a bend in the trail, the scouts got their first glimpse of a genuine cattle-ranch. It was spread out in the valley between two mountains, like a table set for a picnic. The moving herd of cattle and the cowboys looked like dots on the tablecloth.
"Oh, look, every one! What are those tiny cowboys doing to the cattle?" called Julie, eagerly pointing to a ma.s.s of steers which were being gathered together at one corner of the range.
"I verily believe they are working the herd, Vernon! What say you,--shall we detour to give the scouts an idea of how they do it?"
asked Mr. Gilroy.
Mr. Vernon took the field gla.s.ses and studied the ma.s.s for a few moments, then said, "To be sure, Gilroy! I"d like to watch the boys do it, too."
"I have never witnessed the sight, although we all have heard about it," added Mrs. Vernon. "It will be splendid to view such a scene as we travel along."
Mr. Gilroy then turned to the driver. "Tally, when we reach the foot of this descent, take a trail that will lead us past that ranch where the cowboys are working cattle out of the herd."
Tally nodded, and at the first turn he headed the horses towards the ranch a few miles away. When the tourists pa.s.sed the rough ranch-house of logs, a number of young children ran out to watch the party of strangers, for visitors in that isolated spot were a curiosity.
The guide reined in his horses upon a knoll a short distance from the scene where the cattle were being rounded up. Spellbound, the scouts watched the great ma.s.s of the broad brown backs of the restless cattle, with their up-thrusting, shining horns constantly tossing, or impatient heads swaying from side to side. All around the vast herd were cowboys, picturesque in sombreros, and chaps with swinging ropes coiled ready to "cut out" a certain steer. Meanwhile, threading in and out of the concentrated ma.s.s, other hors.e.m.e.n were driving the cattle to the edge of the round-up.
"What do they intend doing with those they la.s.so, Gilly?" asked Joan.
"They will brand them with the ranch trade-mark, and then ship them to the large packing-houses."
Mrs. Vernon managed to get several fine photographs of the interesting work, and then the Indian guide was told to drive on. Seeking for a way out to the main trail again, Tally ascended a very steep grade.
Upon reaching the top, the scouts were given another fine view of the valley on the other side of the ridge. The scene looked like a t.i.tanic checkerboard, with its squares accurately marked off by the various farms that dotted the land. But these "dots" really were extensive ranches, as the girls learned when they drove nearer and past them.
The day had been unusually hot for the month of June in that alt.i.tude, and towards late afternoon the sky became suddenly overcast.
"Going to get wet, Tally?" asked Mr. Gilroy, leaning out to glance up at the scudding clouds.
"Much wet," came from the guide, but he kept his horses going at the same pace as before.
Thunderstorms in the Rockies do not creep up gradually. They just whoop up, and then empty the contents of their black clouds upon any place they select,--although the clouds are impartial, as a rule, in the selection of the spot.
Had the storm known that a crowd of tenderfeet were in the ranch wagon it could scarcely have produced a greater spectacle. It seemed as if all the elements combined to make impressive for the girls this, their first experience of a thunderstorm in the Rockies.
Before the sun had quite hidden behind an inky curtain, a blinding flash cleft the cloud and almost instantaneously a deafening crash followed. Even though every one expected the thunder, it startled them. In another minute"s time the downpour began. Wherever water could find entrance, there the howling wind drove in the slanting rain.
"Every one huddle in the middle of the wagon--keep away from the canvas sides!" Mr. Gilroy tried to shriek to those behind him.
Flashes with the accompanying cracks of thunder followed closely one upon the other, so that no one could be heard to speak, even though he yelled at the top of his lungs. The wind rose to a regular gale and the wagon rocked like a c.o.c.klesh.e.l.l on a choppy sea. The Indian sat unconcerned and kept driving as if in the most heavenly day, but the four horses reared their heads, snorting with fear and lunging at the bits in nervousness.
The storm pa.s.sed away just as unexpectedly as it came, but it left the road, which was at best rough and full of holes, filled with water.
The wagon wheels splashed through these wells, soaking everything within a radius of ten feet, and constantly shaking the scouts up thoroughly.
"I feel like a pillow, beaten up by a good housekeeper so that the feathers will fluff up," said Julie.
"I"d rather feel like a pillow than to have my tongue chopped to bits," cried Ruth, complainingly. "If I have any tongue left after this ride, I shall pickle it for safekeeping."