CHAPTER XLIV.
THE PARDS VISIT THE INDIANS.
It did not take long for the scout and Hickok to decide to pay the wooded area among the mountain tops a visit. They were probably two hundred feet above the woodland, and hoped they could make their way down the side with ease.
It proved no easy task and the last lap was a hard one. At the edge of the woodland was a perpendicular drop, an unscalable cliff as far as they could discover entirely around that side of the great basin, varying in height from thirty to seventy feet.
Fortunately, when they had hidden the saddles, they had taken off their lariats, and retained them for possible use in mountain climbing.
They selected a spot where the evergreens grew close to the wall and the scout fastened one end of his lariat to a stout cedar and slid over the rim. He landed lightly in the moss at the base and then Hickok followed.
The lariat was left hanging for future use, and the pair, marking well the spot, set out on a tour of inspection. Their progress in the moist, springy moss was noiseless, but they realized that quick-eyed Indians on the watch could also move as noiselessly as they.
The pards traveled a rod or two apart and constantly scanned their surroundings. They were in the enemy’s country and it behooved them to exercise great caution.
At last the scout paused to listen. He had caught the sound of a human voice. It was far away across the forest, but it was unmistakably the call of a man.