"Those cabins must be for the Four Monkeys," said Mark.
Their coming to the camp was not noticed until they rode up to the door of the largest place. Then the barrier was thrown open, and a burly man with a round face and a cheery smile put in an appearance.
"Hullo, strangers!" he sang out. "Where did you drift from?"
"From forty miles up the Yuba," answered Josiah Socket. "Heard tell as how you had a tradin' place here."
"So I have, but I ain't got very much left to trade with."
"But you have something, haven't you?" asked Mark, anxiously.
"Oh, yes,—some flour and beans and bacon, picks, shovels, pans, and such stuff," answered the man. "Take your hosses around to the shed, if you will," he added, and pointed to a door beyond the cabin proper.
They followed his advice, finding three animals already in the building. In the shed was a sign:
Horse feed inside.
50 cents a quart.
Don't let the animal go hungry.
"Gosh, but hoss feed comes high here," murmured Josiah Socket. "Howsomever, the hosses shall have all they want this trip. They deserve it, they do!"