“Yes,” said Hugh, “that’s just who it is. A man that thought a great deal of him came up that valley and found the lake and named it after the old man, and the creek and the valley take their name from the lake, I reckon.”
“That’s interesting, Hugh,” remarked Jack, “I’m glad somebody has given Indian names to these mountains. I think that is the way that mountains, lakes and rivers ought to be named. The first thing we know there won’t be any Indians left, and unless we name the main features of the land after them, the Indians will all be forgotten.”
“Well,” said Hugh, “I don’t know but you’re right. It seems to me a great deal better to call things and places after Indians than to call them after the names of European cities. Haven’t you got a Rome in New York State? I know we’ve got a Paris in my State, and I don’t think either name is a very good one for an American city.”
“Not a bit good,” replied Jack.
While Hugh and Jack had been discussing names and places, Joe had been studying the mountainsides, to see whether he could discover any game. Presently he picked up a little bit of snow and tossed it toward Hugh and Jack. It hit Hugh’s leg and he turned around and looked at Joe, who made, with his lips, a side motion toward the valley, and after a moment’s search Hugh, and then a little later, Jack, discovered several sheep feeding far below them.
Taking out their glasses, they sat down on the rocks and began to search the valley for sheep, and before long discovered a number.
Jack thought that there must be eighteen or twenty, though it was not easy to count them, for some would occasionally disappear, hidden behind some bush or rise of the ground, while others would be found in unexpected places.
Those feeding at the upper end of the valley seemed to be rams, some of them with very large horns, while those farther away were harder to identify, but appeared to be ewes and lambs.
“Well, son,” said Hugh, “there are your sheep all right, but as near as I can see they’re pretty safe.”
“I guess they are, Hugh,” answered Jack. “I don’t see any way of getting at them without going down into that valley, and the way it looks to me you couldn’t go and come in the same day.”