“I don’t know. Seems as though things were being managed for us, doesn’t it?”
“I hope so.”
He lifted her to her feet and she looked around her curiously.
“It’s a pretty place,” she pronounced. “I hope you’re right about the water. I saw a little stream way up in the mountains when I climbed to the cave.”
“I’m going to let Jasper find it for me,” replied Scott. He had the saddles off the tired horses in a few seconds and they lay down and rolled happily, drying their sweaty backs in the dust. When they got to their feet again, he took the two long ropes from the saddles and fastened them around the horses’ necks.
“Are you going to tie them up?” demanded the girl.
“Not now. Going to let them drag the ropes around. I can catch ’em easy that way. Guess they’re too tired to go far.”
The horses had smelled the water and made for it. It ran in a trickling little stream down the hillside about a dozen feet away, hidden by some brush. Once refreshed, they were easily led back and began to feed on the coarse grass. Scott shook out the blankets.
“They’re a bit horsey,” he admitted, “but they’ll keep you warm. I put them under the saddles instead of the regular saddle blankets because I’ve been caught out this way before. A man learns things in this country.” He handed Polly her long coat and she slipped into it. “This isn’t exactly the time of year I’d pick for a camping trip,” he added, “but we’ll do, I reckon. Do you want to eat the sandwiches now, or do you prefer dinner at six?”
Polly eyed the two big sandwiches with a serious eye. “Let’s look at them a while first,” she said, hungrily. “Isn’t there any way of getting anything else? Can’t you shoot something?”