"Hugh, this reminds me of riding over the plains. I have been watching these points, hoping that each would be the last, just as when riding over the prairies I always looked at the hill ahead of me and thought that from that hill I should be able to see some distance; but there was always another one just beyond."
"Yes," said Hugh, "I know just what the feeling is, and I guess everybody does who has ever travelled the prairies. Why, even the Indians tell about some man who prophesied to them long ago, when dogs were their only animals, about a time when they would get horses. He said that when they got horses they would always be on the move, and that they would ride up on a hill and see another hill beyond; and then they would want to get to that one to see what was beyond it; and so would keep going all the time, and never be quiet."
It was the middle of the afternoon when the last point was rounded and they came in sight of the Twin Falls. Even then an hour or two was needed to bring the canoe to what looked like a good camping place, near the falls. When they reached the shore they were disappointed, for the timber was so thick and high, and the cliff over which the water fell was so nearly straight up and down, that it was impossible to obtain any view of the cataract from the land. But by pushing out a few hundred yards from the shore its whole majesty was seen. Two wide streams of water flow on either side of an island in the river, plunging over the cliffs, and falling quite five hundred feet before they meet with any check; then from here are two more leaps of three hundred feet each, and then other lesser ones of two hundred or one hundred and fifty feet. The stream falls between dark green walls of Douglas firs on either side; and the rocky face of the mountains is entirely hidden. Before the water strikes the rocks it has become spray, and from each little bench thin clouds of white mist rise to the treetops and float off with the wind. The dull roar of the Falls is almost deafening. Sometimes it sinks to the muttering of distant thunder, and then rises louder than before, sounding like the boom of heavy guns in the distance. Close over the tops of the trees they saw, as they first approached the spot, a splendid white-headed eagle, swinging about on motionless wing. Now and then, as he turned, the bright sunlight flashed upon his head and tail, and caused them to shine like silver, while his dark body looked black against the sky. Unmoved by the tumult below him, and unshaken by the blasts that were now causing the mighty trees to bend their heads, he floated to and fro in his broad eyrie, the only living thing seen in all the wide landscape.
On landing, it took some time to fix the tent and cut the fir and hemlock boughs which were needed to make comfortable the uneven ground where the beds were to be spread. But after this had been done Jack took his rifle and declared that he was going up the hill to see what he could see. Hugh said that he would go too, and the two set off.
From the spot where the camp had been pitched a broad, well-beaten trail led up to the mountains. But this soon grew very steep. Great boulders had to be climbed over or gone around. Great green leaves and a slippery moss hid the ground and made it difficult to know just where they were stepping. More than once Jack, who was in the lead, narrowly escaped an ugly fall. Presently the trail gave out or was lost, and then the easiest mode of progress was to walk along the fallen tree trunks, which in many places lay piled high on one another, as a lot of jackstraws would look if thrown down at random. Even such a road presented some difficulty; for sometimes a span of the bridge would be missing, and it would be necessary to descend to the ground and clamber up among the rocks.
At last the first leap of the falls was reached, but from here very little could be seen, for the foliage and mist entirely obscured the view. Further up, for a hundred yards on either side of the stream, the ground and the foliage were damp and dripping from the heavy spray, and the wet moss which covered everything made climbing difficult and even dangerous. The forest along the stream was open, and Jack and Hugh pursued their way, sometimes being obliged to climb up walls that were almost vertical. Still higher up the forest began to give way to little open parks, and before very long the appearance of the sky above them showed that the timber was either much lower or entirely absent. They were not greatly surprised, then, when after a little time they came out of the forest into an open country, in the midst of which was a high, naked, rocky hill.
At different points on the hill they saw a number of white objects which they recognized as goats. They did not feel that they needed any goats, but these animals were still sufficiently new to Hugh and Jack to make them wish to see them again at closer range. A little manoeuvring took them out of the sight of the goats, and they began to climb the hill. After they had ascended some distance they crept out onto a rocky point and could see, above, below, and on each side of them, small groups of these animals feeding on the ledges and steep slopes. Quite close to them was an old goat, about which was playing a little kid, not a beautiful or graceful object, but one very curious in its clumsiness and its high spirits. It ran about its mother before and behind, sometimes climbing a little way up on a steep bank, and then throwing itself down on its side, rolling over and over until a level place was reached, when it would rise, and after a rest climb up the slope and repeat the performance. The mother paid little attention to her young one, but fed slowly along, constantly approaching closer and closer to Jack and Hugh, who commented on the goats' odd appearance and their no less extraordinary actions.
