“Oh I can’t believe it possible that there is a bear about,” she said. “We are very near the Wallaces’ cabin now, that is, it’s not more than half a mile away and bears do not venture near settlements if they know it.”
“Maybe this one is a big grizzly and maybe he’s eaten the Wallace family all up and perhaps be coming now to—”
Megsy laughed at the wide-eyed Betsy. “To eat us, I suppose you are going to say. But honestly, dear child, if he has eaten five Wallaces and their burros, I don’t believe he’ll have much of an appetite for delicacies like us.”
Betsy turned rebuking eyes. “I don’t see how you can joke at a time like this when maybe something terrible is about to happen.”
Virg was relieved to see that the pack horse had come to a stand-still in the shade of a giant cactus about an eighth of a mile away. “Girls,” she suggested, “would you like to wait here until I go and get Old Stoic or—”
“What!” Betsy fairly screamed. “We stay here when any minute a bear or something is going to come right out of the canon? Nixie for mine. Where you go, there I’ll go too.”
The other girls could not keep from laughing which further increased the indignation of their youngest. “Laugh if you want to,” she said, “but didn’t Virg tell us herself that Old Stoic never showed sign of fear except when a bear was near?”
Their hostess agreed. “I’ll confess I did. That is what brother told me, but of course there must be something else that can frighten our faithful pack animal.” Then with sudden animation and pointing toward the mountains a little way beyond them, Virginia cried: “Look! girls, look!”
Every one gazed, expecting to see something very unusual, Betsy alone was convinced that it would be a huge grizzly.
“Why, that’s nothing but smoke.” Babs spoke regretfully. She had almost hoped that it would be a bear for she knew, what Betsy did not, that they were harmless unless cornered or attacked.