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Peril Finders

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<h3>Chapter Seventeen.</h3> <h4>Water, Water everywhere, but—</h4> “Hallo! What’s that?” said Chris softly, as he lay on his left side gazing at an elevation about a couple of feet from his nose; and it was some time before he could make out that it was a sack, stuffed so full that it threatened to burst the coarse stitches down one side. His head felt confused and thick. His thinking apparatus would not work properly, but seemed to be struggling to carry on the narrative of some weary dream in which there had been snakes, heat, thirst, and riding, till his bones seemed to ache and he felt sore all over. It was very puzzling, and though he tried to make out where he was, he could see nothing but that big sack. After lying still for some minutes, his reasoning powers began to act, and overcoming the disinclination to move, consequent upon his being so horribly stiff, he gave himself a wrench and turned right over on his other side. This brought a little illumination, bodily and mental too, for the sun was beating down upon his face making him raise his hand stiffly to shade his eyes; and there before him lay Ned, flat upon his back, with his mouth wide open. The mist floating in his brain now began to disperse, and rising upon one elbow he could see first one and then another of the party, lying fast asleep in different attitudes with the packs belonging to the expedition dotted-about anyhow, just as they had been released from the mules’ backs. Then there were the bearers of the said packs about a couple of hundred yards away, every one with its muzzle near the ground, browsing busily at some kind of low, scrubby, greyish growth that looked like very dwarf juniper, while in quite another direction, there they were—all six—forming a group to themselves—the mustangs, their saddles still on and the reins upon the ground, cropping away at the thin wiry grass that clothed the sandy earth. “Of course; I recollect now,” thought Chris. “I went to sleep on my pony, and must have fallen off without waking. Am I hurt?” He screwed himself about and raised arms and legs, wincing a little the while. “Yes, I am hurt,” he muttered. “I can hardly move, but I don’t think anything’s broken: it’s just as if the mules had been kicking me and the ponies walking about on my chest.” His eyes wandered round again, and he sat up now with a start, the aforesaid eyes dilating and the lids getting so wide that he showed a good deal of white, while it seemed as if all the blood in his body had rushed to his heart, so horrible were his thoughts. But he could see no sign of rattlesnakes, and the heavy throbbing in his breast calmed down, to give place to a sensation of pleasure, as he breathed in the fresh elastic air and let his eyes rest upon a great blue mountain which towered up above a clump of a dozen or so on one side and as many more spreading away in a row, their tops looking like the teeth of a gigantic saw. In fact, it was one of the ranges to which the old Spanish settlers gave the name of Sierras. “It is not what I dreamed about,” said Chris to himself. “Let me see—yes, that was of looking down into a glorious green valley with a sparkling river running through and beautiful park-like prairies on each side for the mules and ponies to graze in while we hunted and shot the buffaloes. Of course; I remember it all quite clearly, and about our going to bathe and drink, and—oh, how thirsty I am!” “Why, there must be water here, or the animals wouldn’t be so contented. Get enough juice out of what they’re eating, I suppose,” he added, after a few minutes’ more thought. “Well, this is a hundred times better than the salt desert, and there must be water in the valleys over yonder. How blue it all looks! That doesn’t seem as if there were trees, because they’d look green. But there must be valleys because there are mountains, and—Here, I say, Ned, don’t snore like that,” he said aloud. “Wake up, lazy! It’s ever so late.” His words having no effect, he reached out one foot and gave the boy such a vigorous push that Ned sat up, staring. “Who—Here, you, Chris, why did you kick me like that?” he cried. “I didn’t kick, only pushed. To wake you up. You can’t sleep all day. Oh, I say, what a face you’ve got!” Ned, who had roused up at once, clapped his hands to the part of his person alluded to, and retaliated. “So have you got a face,” he cried. “Why, it looks as if it had got a crust of salt and sand all over it.” “So it has, I suppose,” said Chris, rather gruffly, as he began to pat his cheeks softly, rub his eyes, and then deal very tenderly with his cracked lips. “Oh dear, shouldn’t I like a swim, even if it was only in a water-hole that was half mud!” “But I say, Chris, look here. What about the rattlesnakes? Have we left them all behind?” “I hope so. There seems to be no sign of any here.” “And I say, this is quite a different sort of country. Look at the mountains.” “I have.” “We must be all right then, now,” continued Ned. “I began to think yesterday that we were going to tramp along till the heat and thirst were too much for us, and we had to lie down and die. I say, I shouldn’t have liked that.” “And you’ll never find any one who would. Bother the old gold! It would have been horrid. Better have gone on weeding in the plantation.” “Ever so much; but do you think the place marked in the plan is over yonder?” Ned pointed at the beautiful amethystine mountains, but Chris shook his head. “Don’t look like the place; but never mind that now. Let’s see about breakfast.” The boys rose as if animated by one spirit, and stood looking round. “What about a fire?” said Ned dismally. “No wood,” replied Chris, with a groan, and his voice made his father start, look sharply round, and spring to his feet. “Ah, boys!” he cried. “How long have you been awake?” This question, loudly uttered, had the effect of a call to the other sleepers, who rose to their feet to look about in a dazed and wondering manner, but with signs of satisfaction dawning upon their countenances as they grasped the improvement in their position. “Yes,” said the doctor, after a brief conversation, “the cattle are all right, and will be able to go on after another hour’s grazing; but there is no water, I’m afraid, nearer than the mountains yonder.” “But there’ll be plenty there, doctor,” said Griggs confidently, “and I don’t see that we need wait for the animals to graze any more; they haven’t done much amiss by the state of their portmanteaus. We can halt again when we like, and the pasture’s sure to get better as we go along towards the mountain-slopes. Would you mind getting out your glass?” This was quickly done, and the American focussed it and stood gazing long and intently at the distant range. “Far as I can make out,” he said at last, “there’s river and valley and forest yonder, sir.” “Forests with blue trees, Griggs?” said Chris. “Forests with trees that look blue at this distance,” replied the American. “That last makes a wonderful difference in the look of things. So do sunrise and sunset. Why, you’ve seen the woods look orange and scarlet, haven’t you?” “Yes, of course,” said Chris, looking abashed. “I forgot. But, I say, if there were water there, shouldn’t we see it glitter?” “Not a bit. Don’t you know how the rivers in these parts run down in the cañons? Why, I’ve seen a dozen or two that you didn’t know were there when you were a hundred yards away.” “And these may be ten miles off,” cried Ned. “Ten? Yes, quite that,” said Griggs dryly. “Ah, they’re a long way off, Ned, my boy,” said Bourne thoughtfully. “How far do you make it, Griggs?” “Well, sir, I should say it’s a hundred miles from here to the highest part of that peak.” “A hundred miles!” cried Ned. “Yes, and a good sixty to the hills about the foot.” “Then we shan’t get there to-day,” said the doctor decisively. “If we do half of it, sir, we shan’t have done badly,” replied Griggs; “but in thirty miles I fancy we shall have reached water, and be in a better country than we’re in now, worse luck.” “What!” cried Chris. “What I say, squire. We don’t want to go dawdling about in pretty places. We must go yonder for rest and water, say for a day or two, but the old prospector’s map won’t fit in there.” “How do you know?” said Wilton sharply. “Because if there’d been a landmark like that big peak anywhere near the city he’d have been safe to mark it down.” “Of course,” said the doctor thoughtfully. “Where should you think that mountain is?” “Don’t know, sir, and I don’t see that it matters to us in what State the old temple and its treasure is. All we’ve got to do is to find the wilderness that hides it away, and we may as well make up our minds that it’ll take all the patience we can store up. But what do you say about our start, sir?” “As soon as we have had something in the way of breakfast,” replied the doctor. “Unfortunately we can have no coffee. It seems impossible to scrape together enough fuel to make a fire.” “Not till to-night, sir, but I think we might drink what water we like. The horses and mules will be able to get along without.” “Yes, we might venture upon a tinful each before starting,” said the doctor. That tinful each was the first part of the meal, and declared merrily by both boys to have quite a rattle-snaky flavour. The solid portion of the late breakfast was not appetising. “But never mind, squires,” cried Griggs cheerily; “we’re going to get game as we go along to-day. It’ll be roast birds for dinner if you keep your eyes open. I don’t mean for the game.” “For what then?” asked Chris. “The wood to cook it, my lad. We must carry the axe ready, and if we do happen to come across a few shrubs they must be loaded on top of the water-kegs, for the mule that carries them is getting to have a precious light load, and he deserves a heavy one for causing us all that trouble yesterday.” A very short time after they were going straight for the mountain—the great peak forming their goal, and the doctor taking its bearings by compass so as to know their route if mist should hide it, and when darkness came on. To the surprise of all, both ponies and mules stepped briskly and well, the pasture upon which they had been busy having had a wonderfully good effect. The hardy beasts seemed now to need no water, and made light of their loads, while as the stiffness suffered by the riders passed off with movement in the warm bracing air, the difficulties and perils of the past seemed to die away. Griggs proved to be right, too, before they had been two hours on the way, for first one or two, then a covey of the large partridge-like birds that haunted the open appeared, and as the day went on several plump additions to their stores fell to the guns. But the wood was so far wanting, and it was not until evening was approaching that they came upon a scattered patch of trees, which grew for a long distance in a meandering way, just one here and there, and from which a sufficiency for their purpose was obtained; but the pasture was no more plentiful, and they kept on, till all at once Griggs slapped his hand down heavily upon his leg. “Got it!” he cried. “Got what?” exclaimed the doctor, and the boys stared. “That idea. Can’t you see, doctor? These trees have been all along on our right for quite a time.” “Yes, that’s plain enough,” was the reply. “And they go right on as far as we can see, wandering in and out, but getting thicker.” “Yes, I can see all that, but I confess that I don’t see what it has to do with your excitement.” “Don’t you, doctor?” cried Griggs. “Well, it means this: there’s been a watercourse here some time or other, and there’s enough moisture underground to keep these little scrubby trees alive.” “I see. It is possible.” “As it gets farther from the hills there are fewer trees, but as we follow it up you can see they are getting thicker, and I believe that if we keep on far enough we shall come upon grass and water, perhaps a pool.” “Then we’ll keep on,” said the doctor, “certainly; and may you prove to be right.” Griggs did prove to be right, for when the course of the trees had been followed for about four miles, the party found themselves upon a marshy patch of a vivid green, the trees they had followed ending at the very edge. Pools of clear water were plentiful, and the banks and swampy ground between them and the lakes were rich in deep green succulent and coarse reeds and grassy patches such as cattle delight in. A dry slope some fifty feet above the swamp was soon selected for the temporary halt—a place which proved to be quite free from reptiles; and here the mules were unladen, the fire was lit, and the boys joined eagerly in the culinary preparations, all being eager to help in the preparation of the evening meal. <hr /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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