“Several hours ago, I should say.”
Hippy made a circuit of the camp site that they had come upon, and returning, announced that he had made a further discovery—the spot at which horses had been turned loose.
“There appears to have been four of them, though I cannot be positive about that,” he said. “I merely saw the footprints of four animals as they started on their way northward.”
“But suppose they are looking for us?” exclaimed Miss Briggs. “If they are headed north they are headed towards the place where we were fired upon, are they not?”
“Oh, don’t worry,” laughed Hippy. “They have a nice, long, rough journey ahead of them. We seem to have missed each other very cleverly. However, they may be nothing more than an exploring party, and we have been so stirred up over what we have heard of the High Country that every little thing takes on an importance that doesn’t belong to it.”
“I wish I could make a long speech like that and get away with it,” observed Stacy admiringly.
“Young man, you say altogether too much as it is,” retorted Tom Gray. “I think that perhaps it might be well for us to take an inventory of our surroundings, as well as of what lies immediately ahead of us, before we start out,” he added.
Hippy volunteered to do a little scouting, and Grace said she would accompany him, as anything of that sort appealed to her, so they set out together, but soon separated and took different courses.
Grace first of all sought a high point from which she obtained a very good view of the surrounding country, but saw nothing of a disturbing nature. A deer stood outlined on a shelf of rock a few hundred feet above and to the south of her; a bear ambled across an open space, zigzagging his way down. Bears do not like to go straight down a hill or mountain-side. The fact that their front legs are shorter than the hind legs makes going straight down a steep incline difficult, so, unless pursued, they ordinarily follow the switchback principle, zigzagging along until they reach the bottom.
The Overland girl watched the ambling beast with interest until it finally disappeared. She had no doubt that it was descending to the valley in search of food, lured there, perhaps, by the scent of an abandoned camp. Except for these two animals, she was unable to discover any sign of life, nor was there a wisp of smoke within her vision that might indicate the presence of human beings.