Camp was quickly made and a fire started, and the warmth of the fire, and the hot dinner that was soon served, brought comfort and loosened the tongues of the Overland Riders.
“Ahem!” began Hippy, as they finished the meal.
“Uncle Hip is going to make a speech,” groaned Stacy Brown.
“Unhappy moment,” murmured Emma.
“Ladies and gentlemen, do you know where you are?” he began oratorically.
“In the Yellowstone National Park,” shouted Stacy, amid laughter.
“Or nearly so,” corrected the speaker. “Being here, it is well that you should acquaint yourselves with the extent of the vast natural reserves upon which we are about to enter.”
“Make it short and snappy,” urged J. Elfreda Briggs laughingly.
“It was in the year 1872 that the Congress of the United States passed an act which set aside forever as a public park that section of the country now known as the Yellowstone National Park. This great park is rectangular in shape, sixty-two miles long from north to south, by fifty-four miles wide.”
“Our city park at Chillicothe can beat that,” interjected Stacy.