“Well, boys,” said Hugh, “if you want to climb up and look over into Belly River, go ahead and do it, and get back as early as you can. This spot here is mighty pretty, but I reckon we’ve seen about all of it that we want to, and unless you’ve got some special chore that you want to attend to, we might as well pack up and go up one of the other forks. I don’t see any special reason for stopping here. We’ve got what meat we need, and what we want to see is new country.”
“That’s so, Hugh,” said Jack; “we’ll go up to the top of the mountain and then come back and move down to the forks as soon as you like.”
“And look here, son,” said Hugh, “why don’t you go up there alone, and while you are gone, Joe and I will start in to dry this meat we’ve got cut out.”
“All right,” said Jack. “I’ll do that, or if you like, I’ll not go up there, but stay here and fix the meat.”
“No,” said Hugh, “you go on and make your climb, and Joe and I’ll fix the meat, and if you get back in time maybe we can move camp down below this afternoon, or if not we can start the first thing in the morning.”
“All right,” said Jack; and he took up his rifle and started up the mountainside.
It was a long, slow climb. For the first half, the way was over steep open mountainside, dotted here and there with small spruces and cedars, and the soil was now wet with the melting snow, and often slippery. Still he made good time. The side of the mountain was seamed with ravines, and broken here and there by low rock ledges; and two or three times as he went on he found himself within easy shot of little bunches of goats. When Jack saw these, if he could do it without losing time, he crept as close to them as possible, and then showing himself, hurried on. Some of the goats seemed quite shy and ran off, while others looked at him for a long time until he got quite close to them, and then turned and paced slowly off along the hillside.
When he reached the rocks, he found, as Hugh had told him, a break in the wall, cut by falling water, and entering this, began to climb among the steep rocks and ledges, which it often required some care to surmount, but which were not difficult nor at all dangerous.
An hour and a half of climbing of this sort brought him to the crest of the wall, and creeping upon this he hung over and looked down into a wonderfully deep and dark canyon beyond. From the other side of the canyon a great mountain rose sharply, and its summit was covered with a vast snowbank which lay upon a great mass of ice. Evidently, thought Jack, here is a glacier. The mass of ice was apparently moving toward the valley and would break off over this cliff and then fall a thousand feet into the valley below.
It was a wonderfully impressive sight, yet Jack stayed but a little time. He was wet with perspiration, and up here the breeze blew strong and cold. Besides, he thought of his friends in camp, and was anxious to get back to them and help them with their work. So after some minutes’ study of the scene, during which he tried to impress all its features upon his memory, he turned about and slipping off the crest of the rock wall, picked his way down the ravine.