Frank in the Mountains

by Harry Castlemon

Almost the first thing the cousins discussed was the race between Roderick and King James. Archie listened attentively to his cousin's story, and when it was concluded he said, in a tone of voice which showed very plainly that he was not yet willing to give up beaten:

"The speed of a horse depends a good deal upon the driver. I know that the Black Fox was riding for his liberty, but I don't believe he made King James run as swiftly as I could, if I had been on his back. But, since you were kind enough to recapture the horse for me, I will settle the matter by riding a race with you at the very first opportunity—that is, if you say so."

"Of course I say so," replied Frank. "Archie, you do crawl out of little holes when you are cornered, don't you? I'll beat you so badly that you will never boast of your horse's speed again."

Although the boys were very jubilant, and often congratulated one another on the good fortune that had attended their "crowd," they still had much to be sorry for. Of the twenty trappers who had accompanied them across the plains from Fort Yuma, only seven remained. More than one brave fellow mourned the loss of his chum, who had fallen by the hands of the Indians, and the boys heartily sympathized with them, one and all. But still the expedition was not abandoned, and neither was the departure from the fort long delayed. After a consultation with the trappers, Captain Porter decided to pass the winter on the Saskatchewan; and the morning of the third day after their arrival at the fort, found the cousins ready for the journey. Archie took leave of the invalid, who, to show his gratitude for the services the boy had rendered, offered him half his twenty thousand dollars; and when Archie declined to accept, he insisted on presenting him with his horse and rifle. The expedition was as well equipped now as when it left the Colorado, for the captain had procured a supply of weapons, traps, pack-mules, and provisions from a trader who happened to be at the fort.

"Good-by, Adam," said Frank, who stood with one hand clasping his friend's, and the other holding the impatient Roderick by the bridle. "We have seen some stirring times during our short acquaintance, and you will not be likely to forgot us soon, will you?"

"I'll never forget you," replied Adam, earnestly. "If it hadn't been for you, Frank, I should now be a prisoner in the hands of the outlaws. I tell you, fellows, my ideas concerning boys from the States have changed wonderfully since I first met you. You can both beat me riding and shooting, and you take to the mountains as naturally as though you had been born here."

When the farewells had been said, Adam returned slowly and sorrowfully to his quarters in the fort, and the cousins galloped after the trappers, who had already disappeared behind the distant swells.

The adventures we have attempted to describe in this volume form but a small portion of the history of the life Frank and Archie led while they remained with Captain Porter. If space would allow, we might tell of many interesting events that happened during the winter they passed upon the banks of the Saskatchewan. We might describe the races which came off between the rival horses, in every one of which the gallant little black was as badly beaten as ever Sleepy Sam had been. Although Archie, at first, found any number of "little holes to crawl out of," he was finally obliged to confess that Roderick was the swifter horse. We might tell of the rivalry which existed between the boys, and which seemed to grow stronger every day, affording infinite amusement to the trappers, who praised first one, and then the other, to incite them to greater deeds of valor; how Frank took the lead by killing a grizzly bear, alone and unaided, and Archie, to be even with him, nearly broke King James's neck, and his own into the bargain, by attempting to capture a wild horse. That was a proud day for Archie, for he actually succeeded in lassoing one of the drove; but, unfortunately, the lariat was insecurely fastened to his saddle, and the wild steed made his escape after all, carrying the lasso with him. All the trappers voted that this exploit was fully equal to the killing of a grizzly, and that, if Frank wished to take the lead again, he must trap or shoot another bear. We might recount the adventures that befell them during the two weeks they were lost in the mountains, living in a little hut they had built under the shelter of a friendly cliff, which effectually protected them from the fury of the snow-storms—enjoying splendid shooting in the meantime, and experiencing not a single fear but that "every thing would come out all right" in the end. We might tell of the long winter evenings they passed listening to the trappers' stories; and of the days, too, when they never stirred out of the cabin, because they were snowed under and could not get out. This was the poetry of the life they led during that long-to-be-remembered winter, and then came the prose. Their provisions gradually disappeared; game became scarce; the snow filled up the mountain passes to the depth of forty feet, and covered all their traps; their horses and mules were killed and eaten, and finally but one single horse remained besides Roderick and King James, and that was Pete. His time came at last, and then the cousins looked at one another with a most doleful expression on their hunger-pinched faces.

"It can't be helped, boys," said Captain Porter. "We must live, and one horse is about as good as another, any how. I have twenty-five hundred of them on my rancho, and when we get home you can take your pick of the lot."

"Do you suppose I could ever find a horse that would suit me as well as King James?" whispered Archie, drawing the captain off on one side. "No, I couldn't; but take him and save Roderick, if you can. Frank thinks so much of that horse I shouldn't like to see him killed."