“Guggling geese, no!” expostulated Persimmons, holding out his hand to be dressed, for the wounds made by the sharp quills were bleeding, “he ran into me, don’t ever mistake that.”
It was some time before the camp quieted down again, but finally peace was restored and a tranquil night, undisturbed by any more nocturnal adventures, was passed.
Bright and early the next day they set out once more, traveling now off the beaten track and making for their destination, the Big Bend of the Columbia River. The professor was on the lookout for what he called metamorphic specimens of rock, which, in plain English, means bits of stone and so forth that show traces of the new world in the making. For, as he had explained to the boys, the Canadian Rockies are, from a geologist’s standpoint, of recent formation. Unlike many chains of like character, they are not supposed to be volcanic in formation. The final cause of the uplifting of their giant crests is generally attributed to the shrinkage of the earth’s interior by loss of heat or some other action. It is also supposed that eons ago the Rockies were as lofty as the Himalayas or the Andes, but that the various destructive forces that worked and still work amidst their rugged bosoms, have diminished their stature by thousands of feet.
It was at the close of their second day’s travel that the first of a series of mysterious happenings, destined to puzzle them greatly in the future, occurred. Ralph, who had been disturbed by the noise of some nocturnal animal trampling about in the brush, rose from his blankets and emerged into the moonlight with his rifle, his thoughts centered on the notion that his long-cherished hope of shooting a grizzly had materialized.
Not far from the camp, and overlooking it, a lofty rock towered above the floor of the valley through which they were then traveling. In the moonlight its dark form was silhouetted blackly against the night sky. Ralph’s heart gave a leap as he saw, or thought he saw, something moving on the summit of the great boulder.
He raised his rifle to fire and stood with beating pulses awaiting the opportunity.
Suddenly a form moved into view on the summit of the rock. The boy’s finger was just about to press the trigger, when he gave a gasp of astonishment and the rifle almost fell from his hands.
It was the form of a man that had appeared, blackly outlined against the moonlight. For one instant the figure stood there and then, as Ralph hailed it in a quavering voice, it wheeled, and like an alarmed wild beast, slipped off into the forest.