It still lacked half an hour of sunset when they finished supper; and Bob White was even thinking of getting out some fishing tackle, in order to see if he could coax a few trout from the stream, at the foot of the rapids below.
The two mules, Mike and Molly, had been staked out at the end of their ropes, and were cropping the green grass that grew abundantly near by.
“Don’t things look just fine and dandy around here, though?” remarked Step Hen, as they lay there, feeling too full of supper to do anything.
“Yes; and so far we haven’t missed those two guides who gave us the cold shake,” Giraffe added. “One of ’em had to go and get sick; and the other broke his contract, and went off with those two Eastern sportsmen who came out here to shoot mountain sheep, just like they do chamois over in Switzerland. But we’re going to get on all right without ’em; though I hope we manage to run across that Toby Smathers they told us about, and who’s up here somewhere on his own hook doin’ something, nobody seemed to know just what.”
“Yes,” remarked Thad, “they told us he was just the right kind of a guide to get. He’s been through the whole mill—lumber-jack, trapper, hunter, timber cruiser; and forest ranger employed to look out for fires, and watch some of those thieves of timber pirates sent in here by the big lumber concerns to steal millions of millions of feet of valuable lumber every winter.”
“Hello! now Mike’s gone and caught it!” cried Giraffe.
This caused all of them to sit up, and take notice that one of the mules was dancing at a lively clip at the end of his rope. He would stand up on his hind legs, and strain at his stake; then turning, he would kick as far as he could; and carry on in a most remarkable manner.
“What in the dickens ails the beast?” asked Step Hen. “Has a bumble bee stung him on the nose?”
“Why, don’t you see, it’s catching,” retorted Giraffe, grinning. “He saw the way Davy here was walking around on his hands, with his feet in the air; and Mike wants us to see if he can do better than that. I reckon he’ll stand on one foot after a bit, and show Davy stunts he dassent try to follow.”
“Now, there goes Molly trying the same dodge,” shouted Bumpus.