"We'll have some good eating to-night, after all," said Roger, with a grin. He liked fowl of all kinds.
The stop for dinner was made beside a mountain spring, where the water was icy cold and as clear as crystal. They took their time eating, thus allowing the horses a chance to rest and to crop the nearby grass.
"We have covered about twenty miles," said the cowboy, in reply to a question from Phil.
"Then, if we do as well this afternoon, we'll be forty miles from the ranch by the time we camp to-night."
"We'll not make over ten or twelve miles this afternoon, lad," was the answer. "It will be hard climbing up the hills."
"But harder climbing to-morrow," put in Dave.
"Yes, to-morrow will test the horses, and test you, too," said Todd.
It was very pleasant to rest in the shade after such a long ride in the sun, but the cowboy was anxious to reach a certain camping spot for the night, and so he allowed only three-quarters of an hour for the midday halt.
As soon as they left the spring, the youths realized what was before them. The trail now led constantly upward, and was in parts stony and uncertain. In several places they had to leap brooks of fair size.
"This isn't so nice," remarked Phil, as they came to a halt, to allow the horses to rest after a particularly difficult hill had been climbed.