Crossing the Divide near Mount Jefferson on July 25th. Three Fingered Jack in the Distance.
The terrified animal landed in a small fir tree at the bottom, scrambled to his feet apparently unhurt—and made a dash right back up the slope! His fall, his snorts, his sudden dash, threw a scare into the other horses. The saddle horses, of course, were being led, and couldn’t get away, but the pack horses dashed after him.
“Quick!” shouted Norman, “give all the saddle horses’ bridles to one man, and then head ’em off!”
Everybody led his horse quickly to the cook, who tied the bridles to a tree, and then the men and boys ran up the slope as fast as they could, some going to the right, some to the left, in order to surround and get ahead of the runaways, and drive them back.
It was hard work. The snow was deep and soft and wet, the slope very steep, and a frightened horse, with four legs, can climb faster than a man with two. Jeff didn’t help any. He merely dashed wildly around, barking loudly, without sense to head the horses back.
“Call off that chickadee hound!” panted the doctor to Bennie.
The first horse, minus his load, actually got back to the top, and scrambled over, before he could be headed. Norman and Bennie followed him, sneaking on either side through the trees, for a quarter of a mile before he stopped abruptly at a spot where the snow was melted, and began to eat grass. Then they crept up on him, got hold of his rope bridle, and led him back.
By the time the train was rounded up again, everybody was reeking wet with perspiration from their knees up, and soaking wet with snow water from their knees down.
“My head is burning, and my feet freezing, and oh, boy, for a drink!” Bennie exclaimed.
The scattered luggage was collected, the horse repacked, and they moved on. In less than a mile of rapidly dropping trail the snow ceased entirely. The trail grew dry and dusty. The yellow pines began to appear again, and they came to a little lake at the head of a cañon—and everybody, horses and men and boys, drank and drank and drank.