“Yes. But you can’t see it from this point. We’ve got to cover at least two miles more before we get in sight of the place.”
“And where is Sunset Trail?” questioned Jack, with equal eagerness.
“That’s just above and a little to the south of the falls,” answered his uncle. “We’ll hit that trail just before we get to Gold Hill.”
The climbing up and down the foothills leading to the mountains beyond was no easy task for either horses or riders, yet the boys enjoyed the outing thoroughly.
“It beats reciting in a classroom all hollow,” was the way Randy expressed himself. “Me for a life in the open air every time!”
“I knew you boys would enjoy this,” declared Tom Rover. “If it wasn’t for what I’ve got on my mind just now I’d be as crazy about it as you are,” and for an instant there was an old-time twinkle in his eyes.
“Oh, Uncle Tom, don’t worry about the mine all the time!” burst out Fred. “Things may straighten themselves out quicker than you expect.”
“I hope they do,” answered his uncle. But almost immediately his face again resumed a worried look. The disappearance of Lew Billings had affected him deeply.
Tom Rover had already explained to the boys that many of the men at the mine kept house for themselves and that there was also something of a boarding house, presided over by a colored man, Toby White, who at one time had been a chef in a San Francisco hotel. It was at Toby White’s boarding house they hoped to obtain accommodations during their stay at Gold Hill.
“But of course we won’t want to stay at the boarding house all the time,” said Fred, as the party rode along. “We want to get out on Sunset Trail and do some hunting and fishing.”