CHAPTER XII ON THE MOUNTAIN TOP

The next morning all of the former Oak Hall chums were up by sunrise. As Dave had said, they wanted to make the most of their time.

“It’s a beautiful location,” was Phil’s comment, as he stood out on the edge of the camp and surveyed the surroundings.

On one side were the tall mountains and on the other the broad valley, with the little winding river shimmering like a thread of silver in the sunlight.

“Nice place to erect a bungalow,” added Ben.

“What are you thinking of, Ben—erecting bungalows and selling off town lots?” queried Roger slyly.

“Oh, I didn’t get as far as that,” laughed the son of the Crumville real estate dealer. “Just the same, after your railroad gets into operation somebody might start a summer colony here.”

The visitors were shown around the camp, and at the ringing of the breakfast bell were led by Roger and Dave into the building where the meals 121were served. And there all did full justice to the cooking of Jeff and his assistant.

The youths had talked the matter over the evening before, and it had been decided to take an all-day trip on horseback along the line of the proposed railroad.

“We’ll show you just what we are trying to do,” Roger had said. “Then you’ll get some idea of what laying out a new railroad in a country like this means.”

“I wish I could have gone down to the Rio Grande when Ben went down,” remarked Phil. “I would like to have seen that new Catalco Bridge your company put up there.”

“It certainly was a fine bit of engineering work!” cried Ben. He turned to Dave. “You don’t expect to put up any bridge like that here, do you?”

“Not just like that, Ben. Here we are going to put up fifteen or twenty bridges. None of them, however, will be nearly as long as the Catalco Bridge. But some of them will be considerably higher. In one place we expect to erect a bridge three hundred feet long which, at one point, will be over four hundred feet high.”

A substantial lunch had been packed up for them by the cook, and with this stowed safely away in some saddlebags, the five youths set out from the construction camp, Dave, with Phil at his side, 122leading the way, and the others following closely.

Every one felt in tiptop spirits, and consequently the talk was of the liveliest kind, with many a joke and hearty laugh. Shadow Hamilton was allowed full sway, and told a story whenever the least opportunity presented itself.

“Some mountains around here, and no mistake,” observed Phil, after they had climbed to the top of one stretch of the winding trail and there come to a halt to rest the horses.

“That climb would be a pretty hard one for an auto,” observed Ben. “It’s worse than some of the climbs we had to take when we were making that tour through the Adirondacks to Bear Camp.”

“Oh, say! Speaking of climbing a hill in an auto puts me in mind of a story!” burst out Shadow eagerly. “A man got a new automobile of which he was very proud, and took out one of his friends, a rather nervous individual, to show him what the auto could do. They rode quite a distance, and then the man started to go up a steep hill. He had a terrible time reaching the top, the auto almost refusing to make it. But at last, when he did get up, he turned to his friend and said: ‘Some hill, eh? But we took it just the same.’ To this the nervous man answered: ‘I was afraid you wouldn’t make it. If I hadn’t put on the hand-brake good and hard, you would have slipped 123back sure.’” And at this little joke the others smiled.

Having rested, the party proceeded on the way once more, and Dave and Roger pointed out what had been done toward surveying the new line and where the bridges and culverts were to be constructed; and they even drew little diagrams on a pad Dave carried, to show how some of the bridges were going to be erected.

“It certainly is a great business,” was Phil’s comment. “I should think it would be pretty hard to learn.”

“It is hard, Phil. But we are bound to do it,” answered Dave. “We are going to learn all about surveying and draughtsmanship, and in the meantime we are brushing up on geometry and trigonometry, and half a dozen other things that pertain to civil engineering. We’ve got a great many things to learn yet, before we’ll be able to tackle a job on our own hook,” he added, with a little smile.

From time to time the youths talked about the days spent at Oak Hall and of what had become of numerous schoolfellows. The visitors discussed the doings of Nick Jasniff in that vicinity, and they wondered what that rascal would do next.

“Like the proverbial bad penny, he’ll be sure to turn up again sooner or later,” was Phil’s comment.

124“I’m afraid you’re right,” sighed Dave.

Thinking that they might possibly spot a bobcat or some other wild animal, Dave had brought a double-barreled shotgun along, and Roger carried old Hixon’s rifle. The others were armed with small automatic pistols, purchased especially to be carried on the trip to Star Ranch.

“But I don’t suppose we’ll sight anything worth shooting now we’re armed,” remarked our hero. “That’s the way it usually is.”

Noon found the chums in the very heart of the mountains. They had been told by Hixon where they could find a fine camping-spot close to a spring of pure, cold water; and there they tethered their horses and proceeded to make themselves at home. They had brought along some coffee and a pot to make it in, and presently they started a small fire for that purpose.

“A fellow could certainly camp out here and have a dandy time,” remarked Ben, when the odor of the coffee permeated the camp. “There must be plenty of game somewhere in these mountains and plenty of fish in the streams.”

“Yes, the streams are full of fish,” answered Roger. “But about the game, I am not so sure. There are plenty of birds and other small things, but big game, like deer, bear, and mountain lions are growing scarcer and scarcer every year, so Hixon says. He thinks that every time a gun is 125fired it drives the big game farther and farther back from the trails.”

The youths brought out their lunch from the saddlebags, and when the coffee was ready they sat down to enjoy their midday repast. The long horseback ride of the morning had whetted their appetites, and with little to do, they took their time over the meal.

“Let’s take a walk around this neighborhood before we continue the ride,” said Roger, when they were repacking their things. “I’m a bit tired of sitting in the saddle, and had just as lief do some walking.”

Seeing to it that their horses could not get away, the five youths started to climb up the rocks to where the summit of the mountain along which they had been traveling would afford a better view of their surroundings. It was hard work, and they frequently had to help each other along.

“Be careful, Shadow, or you may get a nasty tumble,” cautioned Dave, just before the summit was gained.

“Don’t worry about me, Dave,” panted the former story-teller of Oak Hall. “I know enough to hang on when I’m climbing in a place like this. I’m not like the fellow in the story who let go to spit on his hands.”

From the summit of the mountain they could see for many miles in every direction, and here 126Ben, who had brought along a pocket camera, insisted upon taking a number of views—two with the others seated on several of the nearby rocks. Then Dave made Ben pose and took two more pictures.

“It’s too bad we can’t take a picture of Ben shooting a bear or a wildcat,” remarked Roger. “That would be a great one to take home and show the folks.”

“I’d rather have a picture of you and Dave building one of those big bridges you spoke about,” answered the other youth. “Then we could have a couple of copies framed and shipped to Jessie and Laura;” and at this dig Ben had to dodge, for both Dave and Roger picked up bits of rock to shy at him.

“Let’s walk across the summit of this mountain and see what it looks like on the other side,” suggested Shadow. “I suppose we’ve got time enough, haven’t we?”

“We’ve got all the time there is, Shadow,” answered Dave. “It won’t make any difference how late it is when we get back to camp.”

One after another they trudged along through the underbrush and among the loose stones on the mountain summit, which was a hundred yards or more in diameter. In some places they had to pick their way with care, for there were numerous cracks and hollows.

127“A fellow doesn’t want to go down into one of those cracks,” remarked Phil, after leaping over an opening which was several feet wide and probably fifteen or twenty feet in depth.

“He’d get a nasty tumble if he did,” answered Roger.

“And he’d have a fine time of it getting out if he chanced to be alone!” broke in our hero.

With the sun shining brightly and not a cloud obscuring the sky, the five chums presently reached the other side of the mountain. Looking down, they saw a heavy wilderness of trees sloping gently down to the hollow below them and then up on the side of the mountain beyond.

“Isn’t that perfectly grand!” murmured Ben. “Just think of the thousands upon thousands of feet of timber in that patch!”

“Yes. And think of all the masts for ships!” added Phil, with a little laugh.

“And flagpoles!” exclaimed Dave. “I guess there would be enough flagpoles in that patch to plant a pole in front of every schoolhouse in the United States.”

“Well, every schoolhouse ought to have a flagpole, and ought to have Old Glory on it, too!” cried Roger. “My father says that people generally don’t make half enough display of our flag.”

The youths walked along the edge of the summit 128for quite a distance, looking off to the northward and southward. Then, after Ben had taken a few more pictures, they started back for where they had left the horses.

“Come on, let’s have a race!” cried Ben suddenly. “First fellow to reach the horses wins the prize!”

“And what’s the prize?” queried Phil.

“Won’t tell it to you till you win it!” broke in Dave.

With merry shouts, all of the chums started on a run for where they supposed the horses had been left. They soon found themselves in the midst of the underbrush and many loose rocks, around which they had to make their way. Some thought the horses were in one direction and some another, and as a consequence they soon became separated, although still within calling distance.

“Hi! Be careful that you don’t go down in some hole and break a leg,” cautioned Dave.

“That’s right!” sang out Roger, who was some distance off. “Some of these rocks are mighty treacherous.”

Forward went the crowd, and in about ten minutes Dave and Roger found themselves in sight of the former camping spot. Phil and Ben were also coming on from around some rocks on the left, and each of the crowd put on an extra burst of speed to reach the horses first.

129“I win!” cried Roger, as he caught hold of one of the saddles.

At the same moment, Phil touched another of the animals, and a few seconds later Dave and Ben did the same.

“Pretty close race for all of us!” cried Ben; and then, of a sudden, he looked around. “Where is Shadow?”

The four who had reached the horses looked back toward the brushwood and the rocks around which they had made their way. They waited for several seconds, expecting each instant that the former story-teller of Oak Hall would show himself. But Shadow failed to appear.

“Hello, Shadow! Hello! Where are you?” sang out Dave, at the top of his lungs.

No answer came to this call, and one after another the others also summoned their missing chum. They listened intently, but not a sound of any kind broke the quietness of the mountain top.

“Something has happened to him, that’s sure,” remarked Roger, his face growing grave.

“I guess we had better go back and look for him,” announced Dave.