Darrel turned his horse into the gulch and followed a bridle path that led onward close to the water’s edge. Rapidly, as he advanced, the gulch widened out. The slopes on either side of the stream became less steep, pine trees began to show themselves, and flaming poppies, in irregular beds, made the slopes look like terraced gardens.
“First time I ever knew there was a place like this holed away among these hills,” muttered the boy, staring around him with all the delight aroused by a new and pleasant discovery. “It’s a mighty fine place, and no mistake. Where’s that camp, I wonder?”
Pulling the horse to a halt, he lifted himself in the stirrups and peered ahead. He could not see the gleam of the tents, but he did see something else which caused him to utter an exclamation of surprise and disappointment.
In the distance two figures were moving in his direction, on foot. One of them was the colonel, as he could see plainly, and the other was Jode.
“Beastly luck!” grumbled Darrel. “How can I talk with the colonel if Jode’s around? I’ll just leave the horse in the brush and watch them, for a spell. Maybe Jode will leave the colonel, and I’ll get my chance.”
Quickly turning the horse from the trail, Darrel spurred up the slope of the gulch wall for a short distance and rode into a chaparral of mesquite. Here he dismounted, hitched the horse to a scraggly paloverde, and crept back to the edge of the bushes to watch.
He had had no exercise to amount to anything for nearly a week, and he was astonished to find how his exertions tired him. He half reclined as he stared out of the thicket, resting as he watched the trail for the colonel and Jode to appear.
It was plain that the two could not be going far from the camp. Had they been traveling any considerable distance, they would have brought their mounts.
Not many minutes passed before the two hove in sight. Only a little way from the place where Darrel had turned from the trail, the colonel and Jode altered their course and began climbing the slope. The colonel was carrying a small package wrapped in brown paper.
It seemed evident to Darrel that the two from the camp would pass within a few yards of the chaparral. What if they discovered the horse? The boy compressed his lips sternly. If that happened, then he would show himself at once and talk to the colonel, in spite of Jode. But he hoped the horse would not be seen, and that he could watch his chances and have the colonel all to himself for a few minutes.