For fully half an hour the five chums rode up and down along the side of the hill and had Ben point out to them just where he had seen the two animals.
“It looks to me as if they had cleared out,” said Phil in a disgusted tone of voice. “And if they have, we have had a pretty nasty ride for our pains.”
“Oh, don’t let’s give up yet!” pleaded Shadow. “I want to get a shot at something—even if it’s nothing more than a squirrel.”
“If you don’t watch out, you may have an elephant crashing down on you,” laughed Phil.
“Humph, I suppose you don’t care whether we bring down any game or not!” retorted Shadow. “You put me in mind of a fellow who went hunting. He came back at night, and his friends asked him if the hunting was good. ‘Sure, it was good!’ he declared. ‘I hunted all day long, and not a bit of game came anywhere near me to disturb my fun!’”
“One thing is certain,” broke in Dave. “You’ve got to be quieter if you expect to find any game at all. You don’t suppose a bear is going to come out on the rocks just to listen to stories.”
“That’s right! He couldn’t bear to do it!” cried Roger gayly.
“My, my, but that’s a bare-faced joke!” cried Phil; and then there was a general laugh over the little puns.
After that the youths became silent, and the only sound that broke the stillness was the clatter of the horses as they passed over the rocks between the brushwood. Thus another half hour passed, and still nothing in the way of game was brought to view.
“I guess we’ll have to give it up and continue our trip,” said Roger at last.