At this point the little cavalcade encountered Mr. Mackworth who had also come out to meet the party. At sight of the goat he asked immediately for all details.
“You see,” he said turning to Captain Ludington and Lord Pelton who were just behind him, “we don’t have to go far to find ’em. And we’re just as likely to scare up a fine one right here as in the big mountains.”
“These were pretty middlin’ big,” explained Phil, trying to be conservative. “And there was a pile of ’em. I counted thirty anyway.”
“Why did you shoot such a little one?” interrupted Frank.
“I didn’t,” replied Phil. “That is I didn’t mean to. I aimed at the biggest Billy there, but I hit the little one.”
In the laugh that followed the party reached camp. While Jake prepared some supper for the late arrivals, Phil told his story.
“I got to the river,” he said, “and found that it was no place to travel. Then I cut across the valley straight for the hills. But I don’t think they are hills. They are what I call mountains. I saw I couldn’t walk over them; it was a climb. Well, finally, I got up but I was a wishin’ for the Loon you can bet. And when I got where I could get a peek on the other side and saw nothing but pine trees I knew I was on the wrong track. I couldn’t get through them and keep any bearings.
“There wasn’t anything to do but to keep on the ridge and go north hoping I could come to the Fording River Cut before it was black night. It wasn’t easy walkin’ on the rocks. What made it worse was that it was so awful still and so dark behind things. But there was a rim of sun left and I was hittin’ up my best pace when something went bang like a rock fallin’. Right in front of me something white jumped sideways; there was a rattle of ‘ba’s’ and, while I stood gulpin’, a flock of something went scamperin’ and circling around me and down the hill.
“The thing that jumped sideways was last. Once it stopped and then I could see it was a big goat. I didn’t have the buck ague, or whatever you call it out here, but I couldn’t get my bearings. When the old Billy stopped the rest stopped, too, just long enough to take a peek at me. A half dozen of ’em came back toward the big fellow and I did my best to size ’em up. ‘They’ll all be gone in a second,’ I said to myself and I let the big boy have the best I could give him with a revolver. That settled it. They all went scamperin’, with rocks a rolling down the mountain before ’em, and disappeared behind a bend.