"We're here, but lookin' back I kin hardly see how we ever got here."
"But being here," said Boyd, "we'll now scout around and find the fine house that you as a prophet have promised to us."
The three, agreeing, began at once the task.
CHAPTER VII
THE BEAVER HUNTER
It was perhaps fortunate for the explorers and fur hunters that the great mountains of northwestern America abounded in swift, clear streams and little lakes, many of the lakes being set at a great height in tiny valleys, enclosed by forests and lofty cliffs. There was no dying of thirst, and about the water they always found the beaver. Wood, too, was sure to be plentiful and, in the fierce cold of the northwestern winters they needed much of it. If the valleys were not visited for a long period, and often the Indians themselves did not come to them in years, elk and other game, large and small, made a home there.
It was into one of these most striking nooks that the three had now come. They had been in a valley of the same type before, but this was far deeper and far bolder. There were several acres of good grass, on which the horses and mules might find forage, even under the snow, and the lake, two or three acres in extent, was sure to contain fish good for eating.