"Four miles to Grizzly Slide!" read Polly, exultantly.
"But it must be three o"clock or more. When can we hope to get back home?" murmured Barbara, glancing down the trail they just left.
"Too late to worry about that now," said Eleanor.
"I plan to see Grizzly Slide and then camp somewhere," said Polly.
"That is the best thing, now," added Anne.
"You don"t mean to sleep out in this awful wilderness, do you?" gasped Barbara.
"No, we"re going to engage a suite of rooms at the "Queen Victoria" for to-night!" jeered Eleanor.
"I hope to reach the Slide and ride back to those Falls for camp. We have fish and pasture and soft moss there," said Polly.
"Ideal place, too," approved Anne.
"But the wild beasts, and, oh, suppose a rattler comes along while we are asleep?" almost sobbed Barbara.
"He"ll steer clear of you, Bob!" retorted Eleanor.
"Come on, girls, don"t waste time arguing, or we"ll camp on top of the peak, yonder," laughed Polly, jumping back into her saddle and urging Noddy along the way.
Although Grizzly Slide was but four miles from the blaze, the trail was so rough that the horses had to go slowly. Too, the rarefied air strained the animals" hearts and Polly advised frequent halts to rest the heavily breathing beasts.
During those four miles, the trail often opened from the heavy timber and gave a glimpse of far-off valleys, and dreadfully nearby abysses that made one feel that one was on top of the world. Even the pines in the nearer crests and clefts looked like wisps of green--so small they appeared from the tremendous height.
The trail finally led through a thick forest of lodge-pole pine that looked interminable, but suddenly ended at a line as if it had been purposely cleared away. The riders all sat in silent awe at the sight before them. They had reached Grizzly Slide!
The snow-capped peak, reaching an alt.i.tude, from the clearing where they stood, of at least a thousand feet sheer up, dazzled their eyes in the bright sunshine. To the left of the peak, the sides dropped down almost perpendicularly to the level floor of a valley many thousand feet below. To the right, the snow-fields stretched across a vast area before any timber could be seen on the downward slope.
The snow of the Slide was continually melting in summer and furnishing icy streams that cut through in every direction to reach the vales far down. The temperature was almost at freezing point near the peak, and the girls quickly donned their sweaters which had been packed in Choko"s panniers.
In removing the sweaters, Polly accidentally pulled out a heavy coil of rope, but hung it back on one of the k.n.o.bs of Choko"s harness instead of buckling it inside the pocket. Well she did, too.
"Come on, girls, I want to see what that blue line is over on the ice-field," said Polly, starting up the Slide.
The horses were sharp-shod and sure-footed, so the girls rode as safely as if on the mossy trail, but they had not gone far before Polly began murmuring to herself.
"What"s the matter?" wondered Anne, aloud.
"That blue line looks to me like a crevice in the ice."
"What of that?" asked Barbara, stupidly.
"That shows something queer! This slide seldom cracks into fissures, but when it does it means trouble. If that crevice goes down very deep it shows unusual warmth underneath. And that may move this upper section of ice-field any time, thus creating an awful land-slide, don"t you see?"
"Oh, mercy! Let"s hurry back!" cried Barbara, wheeling her horse immediately.
"It isn"t likely to occur as quickly as that, Bob," said Anne, soothingly. Then turning to Polly, said: "But this slide is said to be stationary."
"It _has_ moved, but so seldom that folks never fear it. I know something about land-slides after living in Pebbly Pit for fourteen years, and even a little slide at the lava cliffs causes an awful destruction, so I can picture what this gigantic slide would do if it ever got started down!"
"You said it happened when Montresor"s Mine was buried?" reminded Eleanor.
"Yes, a small one then, and it may happen again, so we won"t stay another moment," begged Barbara, from a distance.
"It"s all right at present, Bob, and I"m going to see if the chasm runs along very far," returned Polly, riding Noddy away from the girls.
Anne and Eleanor watched the blinding peak where clouds drifted lazily about so that the top of the crest was visible only now and then. At such times, the sun flashed upon the ice and reflected myriad colors as in a rainbow.
"Isn"t it just beautiful!" sighed Anne.
"As wonderful and beautiful as his Satanic Majesty!" declared Eleanor, but she anxiously watched Polly ride along the brink of the fissure.
"Oh, girls! Won"t you please come home! I won"t be easy till my horse is traveling that corduroy road again!" wailed Barbara.
The others laughed. "You complained about _that_ when we crossed it.
The time may come when you"d be glad to be standing on Grizzly Slide--after it has slid!" teased Eleanor.
"Now I"m going back! So there!" threatened Barbara, but she remained exactly where she was, for she feared to go back alone.
"Well, it looks as if we would have to return unrewarded. I can"t find a place safe enough to cross to the peak, and the crevice seems to run all the way across and deep down, too," said Polly, coming back to join Anne and Eleanor.
"Now will you come back?" nagged Barbara, desperately.
"In a minute! We want to watch those rainbow-tinted clouds--they are so beautiful!" sighed Anne.
But even as she spoke, the fleecy clouds of snowy white changed quickly to gray. From gray they turned to dark ominous-looking colors, and Polly hastily glanced at the sun.
"Let"s ride back at once!" said she shortly.
[Ill.u.s.tration: NODDY LED THE WAY TO TIMBER AS THE BLIZZARD BEGAN ANEW.]
Noddy was turned and urged to lead off as fast as possible, but Polly turned every few moments to watch the clouds now gathering in somber banks and falling down over the Slide.
"Girls, make more haste!" ordered she.
"What"s the matter, Poll?" called Anne, who was in the rear.
"I want to get you-all to the timber line just as fast as we can travel. Don"t waste breath talking--just _ride!"_ cried Polly, fearfully.
"I told you to come home. I knew something terrible would happen up here!" wailed Barbara, trying to push her horse, by leaning far over his neck.
"Yes, you always were a Calamity Jane. If we"d left you down with the rattle-snake we wouldn"t have been so hoo-dooed!" cried Eleanor, in her nervousness.
"Noddy, dear, won"t you go faster? We must set a better pace for the others, you see, pet!" said Polly to her little burro.
Apparently Noddy understood the need of a brisker step, for she started so that she soon out-distanced the others and Polly had to wait for them. As she waited impatiently, she watched the clouds sweeping down and along over the ice-fields. Then she remembered the rope hung on Choko"s collar. She jumped off, grabbed it, and soon had Choko securely fastened to the end of the rope. Another loop was fastened to Noddy"s collar. As the others rode up she tied a loop to each mount so that a chain was made of the five animals.