As Dave pursued his journey, many thoughts came to his mind, both about his work and concerning those left at home in Crumville. The beautiful face of Jessie, with her bewitching eyes, was continually before him; and once or twice he took from his pocket the last letter he had received from her, to read over some of the lines she had penned.
“She wants me to make good as a civil engineer, and I’m going to do it,” he murmured to himself.
Shortly after leaving the construction camp he had passed several miners who were prospecting in that vicinity, but now he seemed to be alone on the trail, and the only sound that broke the stillness was the occasional cry of a wild bird and the hoofbeats of his horse as the sturdy animal moved ahead.
Having mounted to the top of an unusually hard rise, Dave brought Sport to a halt to rest, and also to take a look at his surroundings. On one side of him were the jagged rocks leading still further upward, while on the other was the broad valley, clothed in green and with a shimmering river flowing through its center. Far away he could see some animals grazing, and took them to be mountain goats, although at such a distance it was hard to make sure.
“A fellow certainly could have some great times out here hunting in the proper season,” he told himself. “I’d like to go out myself for a few days, especially if I could get some old hunter for a guide.”
Having rested for about five minutes, Dave moved forward again, and soon found himself on the dangerous part of the trail mentioned by Roger. The youth had heard this spoken of before, and he reined in his steed and moved forward with caution.
“You be careful, old boy,” he said, patting his horse on the neck. “Neither of us wants to take a tumble down yonder rocks. If we did, it might be good-bye to both of us.”
Evidently Sport understood the situation quite as well as did the young civil engineer, for he kept as close to the inner side of the path as possible, and picked every step carefully, and thus they moved onward until the very worst of the trail had been left behind. There was, however, still some bad places, the trail widening out in some spots only to narrow worse than ever in others.
“Hi there! Don’t you ride me down!” cried an unexpected voice, as Dave came around one of the narrow bends of the trail. And the next instant the youth found himself face to face with Nick Jasniff.
The fellow who had been in prison was on foot, and carried a bundle strapped over one shoulder. He was so close that he had to leap to one side for fear of being trampled under foot, and this filled him with anger even before he recognized who was on horseback.