Mike nodded. “Save your breath,” he advised.
They moved ahead in silence for another twenty minutes when suddenly Sandy heard Mike grunt irritably. “Darn it!” he muttered.
Sandy turned to see Mike’s bedroll on the ground with his belongings scattered beside it. “Strap broke,” Mike explained.
“Hank!” Sandy shouted. “Can you wait a minute?”
Hank turned and looked back. “What happened?” he yelled.
“A bedroll strap broke. We’ll have it fixed in a minute.”
“We’ll go on ahead to the top of this slope,” Hank shouted down. “We can see a lot of the country from up there. I’ll collect the dogs and wait for you.”
“Okay! We’ll be right up.”
Mike was hurriedly gathering together his equipment, frowning angrily as he stuffed various articles into his blanket. “Everything happens to me!” he said in an annoyed voice. “D’you think we can mend that strap?”
“I think so. It won’t take long.”