“Jeff it is,” Bennie answered, grinning at the joke. “Good old Jeff! I bet he’s a good dog. I bet he can round up a flock of sheep. I’m going to take him home when we go.”
“How pleased your mother will be,” said his uncle.
The cars started up again now, and they rode for almost fifty miles northwestward, getting presently into the yellow pine forests and then the foot-hills, so that Jefferson disappeared entirely from view. At last the doctor turned his car down a side road, and stopped in front of a small house, all by itself in a forest clearing beside a lovely little river. Opposite this house was a barn, and in the barnyard was a herd of horses.
“Allingham Ranger Station! All out! Far as we go!” cried the doctor. “Hello, Norman!”
This last he shouted to a stocky young man, in khaki riding breeches and leather leggings, who was standing by the barn.
Norman was to be their guide. The horses were his. With him he had two more men, one to take care of the horses and one to cook. That made eight saddle horses needed for the party. There were eight more pack horses to carry the luggage. Although it was only 9:30 o’clock, it took them till almost one to get the cars unloaded, and the tents, dunnage bags, sleeping bags, provisions, cameras, alpenstocks, and so on, packed on the eight horses. Bennie and Spider were of little use in this packing process, because they knew nothing about it. They brought the stuff to be packed to Norman and his two helpers, and watched them stow it across the pack saddles, stretch a canvas over, and then throw a long rope over the heap and under the horse’s belly, back and forth several times, till, when it was finally hauled taut and tied, it made a large diamond-shaped design of the load, and held it firmly on.
“Say, that’s a complicated process,” said Spider. “I can tie most knots after I’ve seen somebody do it, but I couldn’t do that.”
“It takes some practice to throw a diamond hitch,” Norman laughed. “Well, let’s saddle our old cayuses now.”
The eight riding horses were saddled, the boys each attending to his own nag. But Norman inspected the saddles before they mounted, and tightened the girths.
“Now, adjust your stirrups,” he said. “Don’t have them too short. Two fingers between you and the saddle when you stand up is enough. We’re not going to ride in Central Park this afternoon.”