The Indians made quick work of skinning the beast and leaving the head on the body so the bump could be identified. The bear fat was tried out and saved by the guides, and several fine steaks were carved from the carcass and broiled, but the girls refused them.
The men had no such qualms, however, and ate greedily, then smacked their lips laughingly at the disgust manifested on the scouts’ faces.
“Devil-Bear good eat!” chuckled Tally, as he wrapped the remaining steaks in a paper for another time.
When the campers resumed their ride, Devil-Bear—or all that was left of him—was packed on Jolt’s back. The mule cared not a fig for a dead bear, so the skin was carried along without demur, although the horses now and then caught a whiff of the bear-pelt and tossed their heads nervously.
The trail up Flat Top Mountain proved as wonderful as it had promised to be. The scouts rode their horses without a tremor, although at times they went on narrow ledges, forded roaring streams, or plunged down through gulches, and over down-timber. They steadily climbed all that day, and towards night were on Flat Top—twelve thousand, three hundred feet high.
Mr. Gilroy reached his desired Tyndall Glacier, and so delighted was he that he acted like a boy with a new toy. Here they camped for a few days while the scientist collected some interesting bits, then the party continued to the very top of the mountain.
From this summit the scouts could see over the entire country for miles around. Estes Park looked like a tiny city park from that height. And Long’s Peak appeared on a line with their sight. They could plainly see Stone’s and Taylor’s Peaks, and also Mt. Hallett, while several famous lakes,—Mills, Bierstadt, Dream, and others—were seen gleaming like sheets of blue ice down in the hollows between the crags.
Fresh camp was pitched that night under the shadow of a gigantic column of jagged rock that rose perpendicularly above the tableland of the peak. The base of the rock was about a quarter of a mile around, but one side of the monolith dropped sheer down to a cliff a thousand feet below. From that ledge it again dropped down to another rocky resting-spot hundreds of feet lower. Thence it went straight down three thousand feet to the bottom of its stand, where it found a firm footing in the valley.
As every one was tired with the climb of the day, they were soon fast asleep on the fragrant balsam beds, and slept until the snorting of the horses roused the Indians, and then they, in turn, called to the others to get up.