“Just wait till we come to our stopping-place tomorrow!” he said, by way of cheering their spirits, as they were eating dinner. “It is one of the prettiest scenes around here—really almost as wonderful as the Park itself. It’s way up on a mountain, where there is the most astonishing view. And the place itself looks like a carefully cared-for garden. There are acres of smooth, velvety grass, and tiny lakes and waterfalls. And the flowers! You never saw anything like their colors in the East! Here and there, too, you’ll see pine trees, and sometimes beautiful herds of elk. It would be a perfect place to take photographs.”
In spite of the vividness of the picture Mr. Hilton gave them, Doris sighed wearily. She wished that she might take a warm bath, sleep in a bed under a roof, and not have this eternal climb, climb, climb, while her knees ached so dreadfully.
“Oh!” shrieked Alice, suddenly terrified. “What is the matter with Bob’s horse? Do look at him!”
The horse was repeatedly jumping several feet into the air, waving his head about wildly, and acting as if he had gone mad. The girls watched him in terror, but Bob laughed reassuringly.
“He only smells a bear!” he explained. “That’s the way he always acts!”
This explanation, however, did not serve the desired purpose, for the girls were even more afraid of a bear than of a crazy horse. To quiet their fears, Mr. Hilton stood up and looked searchingly in the direction in which the horses were sniffing at the air. Several of the boys followed his example, but apparently there was no animal within sight.
“There’s really no need to worry,” said Bob. “He probably won’t come around here.”
“But suppose he does!” said Doris, who felt so nervous that she did not want to eat any more dinner. “What shall we do?”
“We’ll shoot, of course,” said Mr. Hilton, calmly. “Wouldn’t it be thrilling to take a bear skin back with you?”
But Doris continued to shiver, unappeased by the man’s confidence. She resolved to stick pretty close to camp that afternoon.