“Why,” said Hugh, “it don’t make much difference. I’ve seen plenty of wolverine cased, and plenty stretched flat. In old times they used to stretch ’em flat, but I never heard they were worth more one way than another. Nice piece of fur, ain’t it?” he said, as he ran his fingers through it. “Up here in the high mountains they haven’t begun to shed yet and he’s just as smooth and glossy as a beaver.”
That night, while they were sitting around the fire after supper, Hugh said, “Now, boys, I don’t know whether you’ve noticed it, but feed is getting mighty short here. We’ve only got a few head of horses, but the grass is only just started and in about one day more they will be gnawing up its roots on this little flat. We didn’t find any feed up the valley, though a couple of weeks later, when the snow has melted and the ground has warmed up, there’ll be grass growing everywhere. We came in here a little too early. None of us could have known that, because none of us have ever been up here before. It looks to me as if it was a long time since anybody had been here; I don’t see any signs of camps, or horses, or chopping. I think we’ve got to get out of this and do it pretty quick. If we don’t, our horses will begin to get poor.”
“That’s so, White Bull,” said Joe. “I noticed to-day that the feed was getting powerful short, and I don’t know where we can go except down the valley toward the prairie, where the weather is warm and the grass has started.”
“Well,” said Jack, “I suppose that’s so, but just think how bad the flies will be down there.”
“They will,” said Hugh, “surely. But we’ve got to stand them if we’re going to be in the mountains for the next month. It’s better to be ate up by flies than to have the horses get poor.”
“Well, Hugh,” said Jack, “isn’t there any place we can go, up here in the high mountains, where there will be feed? We crossed a big stream a little lower down. How would it be up on the head of that?”
“I don’t know, son,” said Hugh. “You know just as much about this country here as I do. It’s new to both of us. If you like, we can take a day off to-morrow and prospect a little more. If we could get up to the top of this high mountain on the north side of the valley, we might be able to see something, but, at a distance, it’s pretty hard to tell whether ground where there isn’t any snow is covered with grass, or weeds, or willows. If you feel like it, we all can make a climb to-morrow, and see if we can get up to the top of this mountain and look over. If we do, I expect we’ll find on the other side some valleys and flats, but it’s mighty doubtful if there will be any place where there’s feed for the animals. I think the best thing we can do is to go on back and maybe camp on those high ledges we passed over coming up. There’s some feed there and then we can climb up to the top of Goat Mountain and see whether from there we can see any country that is without snow. There must be quite a basin in back of Goat Mountain, where that big stream that we camped on the other night comes out. It must be a cold place there with big mountains all around it, but we can take a look into it, and, anyhow, at our camp the horses will be able to find something to eat.”
“I guess that is so, White Bull,” said Joe. “That’s the best thing to do.”
“Well,” said Jack, “I suppose it is. I hate to leave here when there’s so much new country to be seen, but we can’t stay without feed for the horses.”
Early next morning the tent was pulled down and, while Hugh cooked the breakfast, the beds were rolled, the packs made up and the horses saddled. A little later, while Hugh was washing his dishes and putting his kitchen together, ready for packing, the boys loaded the beds, tent and provisions on two of the horses and, as soon as the third was packed, the train moved off down the valley.